Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
The ACCC reports that it was “also concerned about the banner advertisement claims that the Domain mobile alert service was free in circumstances where users of the service would be charged 55 cents for each SMS alert.”
According to the ACCC, “the charge for the SMS alert was only later disclosed to consumers who visited Domain.com.au to avail of the service.”
ACCC Chairman, Graeme Samuel said that: "The use of the word 'free' in advertising and promotional material is a powerful marketing tool for attracting consumers.
"As such, consumers should be entitled to presume that when a service is advertised as 'free', they will not incur an unexpected fee or charge from the business itself or from a third party. This is a reminder to businesses that the ACCC will not hesitate to take action against traders who make this kind of misleading claim,” continued Samuel.
So, Fairfax Digital Australia and New Zealand Pty Ltd has now acknowledged these concerns and has offered court-enforceable undertakings to the ACCC that it will:
- not publish any advertisement or promotional information on websites representing that Domain mobile phone services are free, in circumstances where consumers may incur charges or fees when using those services
- cause a corrective notice to be published on the Domain homepage, and
- update its trade practices law compliance program to ensure it will continue to meet its obligations under the Trade Practices Act 1974.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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