Virgin shredded by ads watchdog once more

Simon · Jul 13, 2011, 22:26:18

Virgin Media has once again incurred the wrath of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over claims made in its broadband commercials.

In a mammoth ruling by the ads watchdog, six out of 10 complaints about the company's broadband adverts were upheld. It comes only a fortnight after Virgin was last censured for its broadband ads (albeit unfairly in the opinion of PC Pro editor Barry Collins). It's the 21st occasion over the past four years when Virgin Media has either had a decision upheld or partially upheld by the ASA.

The latest complaints largely focused on Virgin's assertion that its "fibre optic broadband is around twice as fast as BT, Sky and Talk Talk's comparable packages".

Virgin was comparing its up to 10Mbits/sec fibre packages with the rivals' up to 8 or 10Mbits/sec ADSL services - a comparison made by telecoms regulator Ofcom in its regular broadband speed tests.

Read more: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/368629/virgin-shredded-by-ads-watchdog-once-more

Rik · Jul 14, 2011, 05:08:57

Lies and statistics. Like BT implying they are the only ones who can supply a fibre-based service.

zappaDPJ · Jul 14, 2011, 06:54:55

QuoteThe latest complaints largely focused on Virgin's assertion that its "fibre optic broadband is around twice as fast as BT, Sky and Talk Talk's comparable packages".

Virgin was comparing its up to 10Mbits/sec fibre packages with the rivals' up to 8 or 10Mbits/sec ADSL services - a comparison made by telecoms regulator Ofcom in its regular broadband speed tests.

So the gist of it is that the ASA are berating Virgin media for telling the truth about their competitors? One of my forums has a section dedicated to broadband stats and speed tests. Here are the first two speed tests posted by Virgin Media users on an 'up to 50Mb/s' service.

In fact all of the speed tests posted by Virgin Media customers on my forum are within a fraction of the advertised service. Check out the two Ofcom graphs in the associated article here: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2011/06/30/who-are-the-real-broadband-conmen-the-isps-or-the-asa/

Those results are shocking and put things into perspective as does the rest of that particular article e.g.

QuoteNot to mention the fact that you need a steady connection of at least 4Mbits/sec to even watch HD iPlayer streams - something that 41% of customers on "up to 24Mbits/sec" ADSL lines simply can't achieve, according to Ofcom's empirical research.

Technical Ben · Jul 14, 2011, 08:37:15

Zappa, I am certain it's down to wording. If they said "faster than BT's average" they would be fine. But they cannot say "faster than BT" even if BT only offer 100mb to 1 customer. It sounds silly, but unless it's fair to both (yep, I;m defending BT here, I must be crazy) then everyone will use loopholes to trick customers.

pctech · Jul 14, 2011, 15:33:36

It really Virgin on the ridiculous now

Niall · Jul 14, 2011, 18:30:30

Quote from: pctech on Jul 14, 2011, 15:33:36
It really Virgin on the ridiculous now

*slap*

pctech · Jul 14, 2011, 20:56:06

zappaDPJ · Jul 15, 2011, 06:25:14

Quote from: Technical Ben on Jul 14, 2011, 08:37:15
Zappa, I am certain it's down to wording. If they said "faster than BT's average" they would be fine. But they cannot say "faster than BT" even if BT only offer 100mb to 1 customer. It sounds silly, but unless it's fair to both (yep, I;m defending BT here, I must be crazy) then everyone will use loopholes to trick customers.

Yes I agree, that would be unfair advertising but there's no real detail given of this particular complaint other than Virgin's assertion that its "fibre optic broadband is around twice as fast as BT, Sky and Talk Talk's comparable packages".