MSE slammed by Watchdog Advertising Standards Agency.

Cliecost

If something is free it should be just that, FREE.

If a paper says they're giving away something free then they have to do it completely free of charge with no hidden costs.

Why does the same rule not apply for other services.

Broadband isn't free if you have to pay line rental, no matter what anyone says about it, it's simple - If, to get a service, you have to first part with cash then it isn't free!

Slowhand

Cliecost wrote: »

If something is free it should be just that, FREE.

If a paper says they're giving away something free then they have to do it completely free of charge with no hidden costs.

Why does the same rule not apply for other services.

Broadband isn't free if you have to pay line rental, no matter what anyone says about it, it's simple - If, to get a service, you have to first part with cash then it isn't free!

How much does the paper cost?

JReacher1

Cliecost wrote: »

If something is free it should be just that, FREE.

If a paper says they're giving away something free then they have to do it completely free of charge with no hidden costs.

Why does the same rule not apply for other services.

Broadband isn't free if you have to pay line rental, no matter what anyone says about it, it's simple - If, to get a service, you have to first part with cash then it isn't free!

So buy 1 get 1 free means the 2nd one isn't free as you've got to pay for the 1st one?

Zedicus

JReacher1 wrote: »

So buy 1 get 1 free means the 2nd one isn't free as you've got to pay for the 1st one?

That's right. It isn't. It's half price, same as the first one. (Only a gullible fool would believe they were getting anything free in those circumstances.) I think you might be getting the hang of this at last.

JReacher1

Zedicus wrote: »

That's right. It isn't. It's half price, same as the first one. (Only a gullible fool would believe they were getting anything free in those circumstances.) I think you might be getting the hang of this at last.

You're a very unpleasant person. There's no need to use gullible or fool when people disagree with your argument. If you were civil then we could have a reasoned discussion. Instead you've been deliberately unpleasant.

It's a very strange arguing technique!

Sheldon_Cooper

Is anyone else getting a feeling of deja vu here? I'm sure we had a thread a couple of months back where someone was intent on persuading the forum that something you had to pay for was free.

I don't think it's unpleasant to say that someone who insists that a word means the exact opposite of its accepted meaning as the result of a dishonest advert is gullible. Fool might be stretching it a bit/

JReacher1

Sheldon_Cooper wrote: »

Is anyone else getting a feeling of deja vu here? I'm sure we had a thread a couple of months back where someone was intent on persuading the forum that something you had to pay for was free.

I don't think it's unpleasant to say that someone who insists that a word means the exact opposite of its accepted meaning as the result of a dishonest advert is gullible. Fool might be stretching it a bit/

We will agree to disagree.

I don't think receiving broadband for free (while paying line rental) makes me a "gullible fool". It's still cheaper than paying for both line rental and broadband.

Still it's not worth arguing about and I've got no room on my footer for more insults!

Azari

Sheldon_Cooper wrote: »

Is anyone else getting a feeling of deja vu here? I'm sure we had a thread a couple of months back where someone was intent on persuading the forum that something you had to pay for was free.

I remember such a thread but it was a lot more than a couple of months back.

I can't remember what the 'deal' was, I'm afraid.

JReacher1 wrote: »

I don't think receiving broadband for free (while paying line rental) makes me a "gullible fool". It's still cheaper than paying for both line rental and broadband.

The deal might be quite a good one so I don't think it's gullible going for it.

What does seem a little gullible is people not realising that the company in question have to spend money to provide the line and they have to spend money to provide the broadband, so whatever you pay them, no matter what they tell you you are paying for and what they may tell you is 'free', is being used to finance these two services.

In fact, the gullible people are those who stick with a supplier who bundles two or more products together telling everyone that one is free, but does not use the 'free' product. They are effectively subsidising those who do.

ticketcollector

The ASA can be very useful sometimes. Just two of my successes:

SMS message from Ladbrokes telling me to go into a shop, insert my loyalty card and get a random amount between £5-£100. Obviously I was assuming £5 and didnt make a special trip for it. Inserted card, nothing happened. Complained to ASA, sent evidence etc, got an email from director of compliance at Ladbrokes about a month later with a grovelling apology and £200 had been credited to the card as a "gesture of goodwill". It was a computer failure apparently.

Ryanair free flights (Completely free, no taxes, no charges, no this and that, etc). Another case that I won. It was also my complaint that forced the ASA to take RyanAir to the OFT (back in the days). Because the flight was listed at a penny and that a credit card fee had to be paid and that insurance had to be taken out, the ASA ruled it wasn't a free flight. Free had to mean Free of charges. Which is now why they always say at the bottom "excludes optional charges". Anyway I got my free return flight to Dublin.

OldGreyFox

I think your find that the ASA concluded some time ago that elements such as broadband,and calls were usually inclusive parts of packages and should not, therefore, be described as “free”.