Vodafone Malta has accused Go Mobile of misleading and deceptive advertising and has lodged a formal complaint with the Consumer and Competition Division.
Vodafone has asked the division to investigate with urgency unfair practices by Go Mobile in its comparative advertising campaign on SMS. Vodafone maintains that this campaign infringes the Consumer Affairs Act (sections 48 and 50) in a number of ways and in so doing it is deceiving consumers, the company said in a statement.
Vodafone said that Go Mobile’s advertising stating that it has “the lowest SMS rate in Malta”, that one can send “unlimited SMS at 1c to everyone” and that “ONLY Go Mobile offers you SMS at 1c to everyone”, are false and misleading.
In fact, Vodafone’s price for SMS is equal to that of Go Mobile when calculated, for example, on 400 SMSs. Moreover, in reality, for one to benefit from Go Mobile’s offer of text messages at 1c, one would have to continue buying bundles of messages of 300 or 500 SMSs at one go. This clarification is missing in Go Mobile’s advertising.
Vodafone’s minimum cost per month is Lm2 while Go Mobile’s bundle of 300 SMS amounts to Lm3 per 30-day window, with the result that it is more likely for a customer to purchase SMSs in excess of requirements with Go Mobile than it is with Vodafone.
The use of the words “ONLY” and “unlimited” are also deceptive, Vodafone said, because the SMS bundle at 1c is in fact limited and determined by the bundle that a customer buys and by the time window stipulated by the tariff plan. Vodafone matches the Go Mobile rate at certain usage points, so the word “ONLY” is again misleading.
Vodafone is also objecting to Go Mobile’s statement “go for the REAL 1c SMS Rate”, which implies that Vodafone’s SMS rate or statements about its text plan are false. This misleads customers into believing that there is no alternative to the Go Mobile offering when, in fact, there is one by Vodafone.
Other statements by Go Mobile, such as “No extra monthly fee applies. No gimmicks” also suggest improper practices by Vodafone when, in fact, the Vodafone plan is straightforward and explained in appropriate detail to customers.
Go Mobile’s adverts fail to show clearly and adequately that certain terms and conditions relating to its tariffs apply. In the television commercials, Go Mobile also short-changes consumers by not allowing viewers sufficient time to assimilate the entire components of the tariff, since the information scrolls across the screen too rapidly to be deciphered.
Vodafone reiterates that Go Mobile’s unfair practices are causing serious prejudice to its interests and to those of its consumers and competition at large.