Virgin marketing up to their usual tricks

Hove you contacted Virgin to let them know of the error, or is direct reporting to the ASA considered a popular pasttime these days?

 

90% of the time it's cock-up not conspiracy.

 

So companies should be allowed to break the rules until a member of the public calls them out on it with no consequences?

 

However, a company should be given a fair chance to sort it out.

Your logic could work both ways - TOCs could stop giving passengers chances to get valid tickets, and just take them to court each and every time?

 

Well, by the extreme of your logic a pickpocket shouldn't be prosecuted (or even reported to the police) if, when first caught, he promises never to do it again.

I don't think taking either point-of-view to the extreme is very helpful, but I do believe that businesses should be held to a higher standard than the average member of the public, particularly when such businesses receive taxpayers money.

 

You're comparing a deliberate criminal offence with what's most likely a technical oversight. I'd far rather give a company a fair chance to sort things out. If fobbed off, by all means do what you have to to get listened to.

 

No, but they were advocating reporting Virgin straight to the ASA without even giving them a chance to sort it out. Which is just like taking a passenger straight to court without giving them the chance to pay.

 

Ok, so the ASA is non-statutory, but any disregard of their instructions would be viewed very dimly by the OFT and Ofcom who are very unlikely to disagree with the ASA. Reporting the company straight to the authorities is very much like reporting the customer straight to the courts. Why can't we be sensible and mature, and give people - and companies - the chance to sort out, what is probably just a cock up?

 

Reporting to the ASA in this instance is just likely to result in an informal resolution (i.e. the ASA rings Virgin and tells them not to do it again, and Virgin agrees).

 

Or, what is infinitely preferable is contacting the company and saying:

"Hello, sorry but I seem to have received a strange email - is this an error?"

"Oh yes, I'm sorry about that, I'll correct it straight away. Thanks for letting us know."

Getting the ASA involved would be entirely appropriate if you got fobbed off, or if the material was deliberately misleading. The OP has both corrected Virgin's error (without the need of expending the ASA's time!) and been rewarded for his trouble.

What Island said still stands though; it's clearly an error and the ASA would probably just ask Virgin to correct it.

 

It's not the email that the OP was talking about reporting to the ASA, it was the phone line that just tells you to call a premium-rate number.

You can't accidentally set up a premium-rate number and move things over to it. It takes effort, it's not just an oversight. The only reason you would do it is to increase revenue, in this case it's clearly against the rules.

 

What advertising rules?

 

Since when has using a premium rate phone number been "against the rules"?


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Telling people to call a premium-rate number (or otherwise pay a fee) to find out the terms and conditions of a product is clearly against fair retailing and consumer protection rules. It's entirely appropriate to refer such things to the ASA.

 

Can you give me a link to the rule which states that companies cannot use premium rate telephone lines to contact the company? In this case they did NOT have to ring it to "find out terms and conditions" but to correct an error.

 

Section 2.6.2 of the PhonePayPlus Code of Practice has been violated, for a start.

 

Do virgin have to comply though?
The PPP website isn't entirely clear, although it implies that it is only compulsory for companies running 087 numbers. In this case, it was an 0845


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I sometimes feel I'm the only person who can read on these forums...

The op is clearly complaining that the number he is instructed to call for terms and conditions actually leads to an automated message instructing him to call a premium-rate number. Both BT and the ASA have very strict rules about the use of premium-rate numbers and island's link makes it clear that this is against the rules.

 

I find it very unusual that they would redirect the 084 number to an 087 number. However, Virgin do run an 084 general contact/complaint line so I don't think it's as clear cut as you make out.

 

The 084 number is no longer in use, and was replaced by the 087 number some time ago. Clearly the email text hasn't been updated for some time! The 087 number is Virgin Telesales costing 10p/min.

 

I think you may have gotten a little mixed-up. A telecommunications company which organizes premium-rate phone services for its customers is required to register with PPP, unless it only supplies 08 numbers.

Anyone operating a premium-rate number (0871 or higher, and some assorted others) must comply with the code, which is separate from registration.