Telkom, Mweb withdraw misleading ads after complaints to industry body
Unhappy customers found that there was no free Wi-Fi or 4GB RAM, as advertised in dated or incorrect adverts
Free Wi-Fi and a promise of a handset with more storage turned out to be too good to be true as Mweb and Telkom have had to withdraw advertisements after complaints that they were misleading. Paul van Ramesdonk had lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) against a Telkom advertisement stating "Storage: 32 GB‚ 4GB RAM". Van Ramesdonk said the advertisement was misleading as customers only receive a device with 3GB RAM and not 4GB RAM, as stated in the commercial. Telkom acknowledged its error and said it had rectified the mistake by changing the wording in the advert. In a separate complaint also lodged with the ASA‚ Albert van der Merwe found an Mweb advertisement promoting free Wi-Fi access at hotspots around the country misleading. Van der Merwe said he was advised by Mweb’s customer care representative that the free Wi-Fi was discontinued in September 2017. Mweb blamed human error and claimed the material referred to in the complaint was not identified a...
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