I read that the other day and thought it was totally wrong. I checked ts&cs for my mobile and they say 200MB. I’m maybe moving soon to Vodafone and theirs seems to be slightly better at 500MB - still not good though eh?

Hey Dave, have you got a reply? What do you think of their response? I still feel that you cannot advertise something as ‘unlimited’ and then put a limit on it.

They say:
” we have allowed use of the ‘unlimited’ even where there is a fair usage policy - providing … clearly stated in the ad and it is reasonable i.e. it excludes only atypical users.”

Full text below…

Thank you for your e-mail to the Advertising Standards Authority.

I understand your reasons for disagreement with the ASA’s recent decision regarding the issue of advertising “unlimited” in a Carphone Warehouse ad for mobile phone packages.

The ASA Council decided not to uphold the complaint from the member of the public because they considered, even with the 250MB limit, that the vast majority of users would be unaffected by that restriction. The ASA did, however find the ad in breach of the advertising code for not making clear that there was fair usage policy in place. The full adjudication can be read at http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_45595.htm.

We have received complaints about the use of ‘unlimited’ in ISP ads previously. When we have looked at complaints in the past, we have allowed use of the word ‘unlimited’ even where there is a fair usage policy - providing the fair usage policy is clearly stated in the ad and it is reasonable i.e. it excludes only atypical users.

The Committee of Advertising Practice provides guidance for advertisers in this area which reflects the ASA’s rulings in previous cases. See the following online entry which will give you an idea of the ASA’s current approach:

http://www.cap.org.uk/cap/advice_online/advice_online_database/Show+Entry.htm?advice_online_id=256

This position is not set in stone - the ASA Council are the body charged with making the decision as to whether or not to uphold complaints about advertisements. They will look at each ad in context and decide whether or not the ad breaches the rules in terms of misleading information / lack of substantiation for the claims being made.

Changes in technology, general usage etc in the future may mean that the Council takes a different view to the use of the word ‘unlimited’ in the future and CAP’s advice to advertisers would change to reflect that.

I do understand your strength of feeling on this. We have received other e-mails along similar lines and have noted the views being received.

I hope the above helps explain our current position.