See

http://www.asa.org.uk/cap/news_events/news/2005/Hanging+on+the+telephone+on+and+on+and+on.htm

and

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?adjudication_id=39587


Confirmation that the ASA does not consider it acceptable to describe 0870 as 'national rate' or 0845 as 'local rate'.

~ Edit by Dave: Second link updated

Thanks for the information.  Both links will be very useful when complaining about adverts.

Excellent. Very handy info for a complaint i have running with my Local Authority.

Excellent, very useful info, Thanks

juby

This was posted by bigjohn:

As the Trading Standards view differed from the ASA stance on this, as to whether the cost of calls should be shown, i e-mailed the ASA to clarify the situation.This is the thrust of their response.

"I can understand that you have found this confusing.The Trading Standards Advice however will have been made based on their interpretation of current leglislation,not on the code of advertising.

The ASA is an independent non-statutory body dedicated to self regulation within the industry.The self-regulatory code therefore supplements the law.By creating and following the self imposed rules,the advertising and media businesses produce advertisments that are,by and large welcome and trusted.According to the code therefore ,we consider that in order to avoid misleading consumers advertisments including special services numbers should make clear the cost of calling."

OK, so to run alongside the Ofcom topic. What are people's views of this organsiation? I don't know too much about them, although I am about to lodge a complaint with them (as per another thread) but my question is what the general concensus is on them?

When they can take complaints (I understand from this board that they can't do internet claims?) how effective are they at making sure people comply with the NGN regs?

I know that CAP have said some bits and pieces, but do the ASA go along with it?

Are they just another bunch of pen-pushers or do they actually do anything?

I'm concerned by the notion of self-regulation tbh, I don't see how they can make people adhere to their rules without the threat of fines. Can anybody else shed any light?

What are people's views on this body in general?

These 2 pages from ASA website might help convince advertisers that to describe 0845/0870 as local & national respectively is wrong and misleading, these 2 examples are upheld complaints and I have been told by ASA representative, (Deborah Lawson), that they use them as case history/examples.

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?adjudication_id=40724  0845  windsor telecom plc


http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?adjudication_id=39587  0870 langley miniature models

derrick wrote on Apr 4^th, 2006 at 2:40pm:

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?adjudication_id=40724  0845  windsor telecom plc

Windsor Telecom are still referring to these numbers with the misleading titles, see here. Strange how the website at [url=www.windsor-telecom.co.uk[/url]]www.windsor-telecom.co.uk[/url] appears to be out of date, and states "Copyright © 2004 Windsor Telecom" at the bottom of the page, whereas www.0845.co.uk  says "Copyright © 2005 Windsor Telecom." Also, www.0845.co.uk doesn't have any other prefixed numbers available.

The list of adjudications on the ASA website is running way behind.

My Informally Resolved Complaint against Vodafone's description of its 0845 number as "national rate" in its January 2006 Vodafone Choice magazine was resolved in my favour but is still not showing on their website.  Vodafone agreed to change the ad in future months rather than face a full blown hearing.

I am told by the ASA that advertising agencies and marketing directors of large companies watch these things very carefully and once they see a few complaints go against major firms they all fall into line.  Well here's hoping anyway. ::)

Members may find the following plain text useful to cut and past into an email etc.

Quote .........

Adjudication By:   Advertising Standards Authority

Mid City Place
71 High Holborn
London WC1V 6QT
Telephone 020 7492 2222      Textphone 020 7242 8159     Fax 020 7242 3696


Windsor Telecom plc
50 West Street
Farnham
Surrey
GU9 7DX

Date: 4th January 2006
Media: E-mail
Sector: Computers and telecommunications.
Public Complaint
From: London


Complaint:
Objection to an e-mail for telecommunications services. Text in the subject line stated "0845 local rate numbers with no call charges". Text in the e-mail stated "Get an 0845 local rate phone number from Windsor Telecom ... Your customers pay the local rate call charge from anywhere in the UK". The complainant, who believed calls to 0845 numbers were often more expensive than local rate calls, objected that the claims "0845 local rate" were misleading.
Codes Section:   3.1   7.1   (Ed 11)

Adjudication:   Complaint upheld.

Windsor Telecom said they had not intended to mislead readers; they said they had described their 0845 numbers as "local rate" in good faith and based on information received from Ofcom. They pointed out that when Ofcom had allocated their 0845 numbers, they had described them as "local rate"; they sent a link to an Ofcom document, headed "The National Telephone Numbering Plan", which described 0845 numbers as "charged ... at BT's Standard Local Call Retail Price ... ". Windsor Telecom believed the description of 0845 numbers as "local rate" was standard industry practice and were concerned that removing that description from their advertising would unfairly disadvantage them; they said they wanted to wait for the outcome of Ofcom's consultation with the industry before changing their advertising.

We noted, at the time the numbers were allocated by Ofcom, all the major telephone service providers described 0845 numbers as "local rate" in their marketing communications. We accepted that, because Windsor Telecom had continued to apply that description in good faith, they had not intended to mislead readers.

Notwithstanding that, we noted the recent migration of most BT customers still on BT's Standard tariff to the "BT Together option 1" tariff, which did not distinguish between calls made to local and national destinations. Because most UK callers now paid more for calls to 0845 numbers than for calls to geographic local destinations, we considered that the description "local rate numbers" for 0845 numbers was misleading and likely to confuse consumers. We noted Ofcom was still in a process of consultation but, because the CAP Compliance team had issued an ad alert telling marketers not to describe calls to those numbers as "local", we told Windsor Telecom to stop describing 0845 numbers as "local rate" and to include a clarifying statement about the likely cost of the call. We advised Windsor Telecom to seek help with the pricing statement from the CAP Copy Advice team.

The ad was found to be in breach of CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).
Issues:  Computers and telecommunications            

...........  End quote.

Good on the ASA for being brave enough and fit enough to take on the job that Toothless Tiger Ofcom found itself too weak, feeble and poodle like to do.

To this very day the pathetic Ofcom still allows BT to get away with describing 0845 as Lo-Call and 0845 as National Rate on its phone bills.

Now I wonder if a BT Phone Bill falls withing the ASA's CAP advice for describing 084/7 numbers? ;)

Virgin Mobile still insist on calling their 0845 number local rate. >:(

See: https://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/contactus/ContactUs?processType=processStandard

wrote on Apr 4^th, 2006 at 9:57pm:

Virgin Mobile still insist on calling their 0845 number local rate. >:( See: https://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/contactus/ContactUs?processType=processStandard

Unfortunately ASA rules don't yet cover what is published on websites.  But if you could get hold of a Virgin Mobile brochure in a shop and if that had the 0845 number in it then you could file a complaint at www.asa.org.uk which should make Virgin get the message.

This is all such a complete waste of time compared to those useless overpaid wasters at Ofcom getting off their backsides and making top level rules that ban all such local and national rate call references and threaten to fine or shut down any telco which makes such claims.

They do have these powers.  They just choose not to use them.

Members may find the following plain text (no. 2) useful to cut and past into an email etc.

Quote (No. 2).........

Adjudication By:   Advertising Standards Authority

Mid City Place
71 High Holborn
London WC1V 6QT
Telephone 020 7492 2222      Textphone 020 7242 8159     Fax 020 7242 3696

-----------------------------------------------------------


Non-broadcast Adjudication

Langley Miniature Models
166 Three Bridges Road
Crawley
Sussex
RH10 1LE

Date: 6th April 2005
Media: Magazine
Sector: Leisure
Public Complaint From: Kent


Complaint:

Objection to a magazine advertisement for model rail kits that stated "LANGLEY MODELS (Kits) ... Tel: (0870) 0660 416 Fax: (0870) 0660 417 National Rate Calls ...". The complainant objected that the claim "National Rate Calls" was misleading, because calls to 0870 numbers could cost significantly more than geographic national rate calls.
Codes Section: 3.1, 7.1 (Ed 11)
Adjudication:


Complaint upheld
The advertisers maintained that the description of 0870 numbers as ''national rate'' was industry practice. They pointed out that both British Telecom and their own telephone service provider, Telecom Plus, referred to 0870 numbers as ''national rate''. They believed the term ''national rate'' was useful because it distinguished 0870 numbers from premium rate numbers. They said the advertisement had not included details of call charges because those charges often varied between telephone service providers.

The publishers, EMAP, maintained that, because 0870 numbers were described as ''national rate'' on the BT website, the advertisers'' use of ''national rate'' was not misleading.

The Authority noted that, at the time the advertisement appeared and at present, all the major telephone service providers described 0870 numbers as ''national rate'' in their marketing communications. The Authority accepted that, because the advertisers had followed existing industry practice, they had not intended to mislead readers.

Notwithstanding that, the Authority noted the recent migration of most BT customers still on BT''s Standard tariff to the ''BT Together option 1'' tariff, which did not distinguish between calls made to local and national destinations. Because most UK callers now paid more for calls to non-geographic 0870 numbers than for calls to geographic national destinations, the Authority considered that the description "National Rate Calls" for an 0870 number was misleading and likely to confuse consumers. The Authority told the advertisers not to refer to 0870 numbers as ''national rate'' and to include a disclaimer that stated, for example, "BT landline calls to 0870 numbers will cost no more than 8 pence per minute; calls made from mobiles usually cost more".

Issues: Leisure.


     

...........  End quote (No. 2).

kk,

I'm not sure why you appear to have repeated the same long quote twice?

Thanks NGM - post now amended.

A new Help Note has recently been updated by CAP on the marketing of telecommunications services. Details here.

Needless to say that to this day Windsor is still promoting its 0845 numbers as "local rate".

http://www.windsor-telecom.co.uk/0845-local-rate-numbers.php

I have added a couple of ASA adjudications to the Useful Links and References page.

Letter from the ASA after I forwarded a whole pile of supermarket leaflets to them all of which stated 0845 as local rate, quoting the Datel decision back at them:


Quote:

Dear<me> YOUR COMPLAINT: ASDA AND 0845 'LOCAL RATE' Thank you for contacting us and sending the leaflets you objected to. As you know we've already investigated and upheld complaints about this issue and I'm concerned to hear that advertising like this continues.  I've therefore passed the case to our Compliance team, which will follow it up. The Compliance team doesn't report to complainants or publish the details of its work but it will address the problem. Our website, www.asa.org.uk, contains information about the ASA and the work we do, including the results of investigations into other complaints. Yours sincerely Tim Evans Complaints Executive Tel: 020.... Email ....@asa.org.uk

I'm not sure if that's a sweeping-it-under-the-carpet response, or if the Compliance Team actually acheives results...  Time will tell.