ASA Adjudication on Via-Vox Ltd

Ad

A radio ad and an e-mail for a conference call service.

a. The radio ad stated "Here are some disgusting facts. 30% of meeting attendees don't wash their hands after the toilet; 25% break wind silently; 4% pick their nose and wipe it under the table. And then there's you. Powwownow voice conferencing for when you really don't want to meet face to face. With Powwownow the service is free. You only pay the price of an 0870 call. So no booking, no bills and absolutely no physical contact. Register free today". The voice-over then gave an internet website address.

b. The e-mail stated "Since we know you like Powwownow's free web conferencing solution, we're sure you'll be impressed with our free voice conferencing service ... With a low-cost call rate of 6.7p/min per participant, no booking, no billing and absolutely no fuss, we know you won't be disappointed".

Issue

Two complainants challenged whether the use of the term "free" in both ads was misleading, because users of the service had to pay for the cost of an 0870 call.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

BCAP Radio Code

Response

Via-Vox Ltd (Via-Vox) said they described the Powwownow service as free because they did not charge customers to use their service. They explained that the only cost incurred by customers was the price of the actual phone call, which was billed directly by the customer's phone provider. Via-Vox said they had amended their advertising in 2006 on the recommendation of the CAP Copy Advice service to state "free conference calling service". They believed the similar claims in these ads therefore complied with the Code.

The RACC said they were satisfied that Via-Vox had been able to substantiate that the service they offered was free. There was no booking or bridging fee, and the only cost incurred by the customer was the price of the telephone call. The RACC said the voice-over made clear that customers would pay the price of the 0870 call.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA considered that the claims "With Powwownow the service is free. You only pay the price of an 0870 call" in ad (a) and "we're sure you'll be impressed with our free voice conferencing service ... With a low cost call rate of 6.7p/min ... no booking, no billing ..." in ad (b) made it clear to customers that there were two elements; the voice conferencing service and the phone calls. We also considered that those claims made clear that while the voice conferencing service itself was free, customers would be charged for the cost of the actual phone call. We understood Via-Vox made money on the phone calls through revenue-sharing with the telephone service provider. However, we also understood that the cost of the 0870 call would be the same whether customers had to pay for the video conferencing service or not. Because we understood that consumers were not charged or did not pay extra for using the Powwownow service, we concluded that the description of the voice conferencing service as 'free' was not misleading.

We investigated ad (a) under CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code Section two, rules 3.1 (Misleadingness) and 20.1 (Use of the word 'free') and ad (b) under CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 32.3 (Free offers and free trials) but did not find them in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)