Vodafone just can't catch a break. The troubled telco has been facing a customer exodus, a class-action lawsuit and a heap of negative press. Now the company is in more hot water for an advertising bungle.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a formal warning to Vodafone for breaching the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code in a print ad in Melbourne.
Before we start pulling out the pitchforks and rallying an angry posse, it's important to keep things in perspective: the breach related to Vodafone not putting large enough font in its ad, and the ad only appeared for one day.
However, ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said: “While the ACMA is pleased that Vodafone acted to rectify subsequent advertisements, mistakes like this really shouldn't happen”.
In the ad in question, Vodafone had displayed the mobile phone standard charges in a font that was not displayed prominently enough.
A spokesperson for the telco blamed the error on “a last minute change to creative late one night”.
“The font size was smaller than it should have been,” she said. “We noticed the issue immediately, but the ad was already in print. It ran for just one day. It was a result of human error.
“We are taking the warning from ACMA very seriously.”
Vodafone's troubles in Australia are well documented. Largely as a result of network issues, the company has been shedding customers, and currently faces a class-action lawsuit. The litigation funder behind the class-action suit LCM has been launching ads to encourage ex-Vodafone customers to sign up to the class-action lawsuit.
The company, though, has insisted that the worst of its troubles are behind it, with chief executive Bill Morrow saying today: "Our customers have been very clear what they want from us. They want a reliable network experience where they live, work and holiday.
“This announcement today means Vodafone customers living in or visiting regional areas will notice much improved mobile coverage from July, as will those who are travelling for work or heading off on holidays. This will include a much better network experience on major roads and highways.
“We have invested heavily in our 3G network over the past two years and our metropolitan network is already 25% bigger than it was in 2011. Our engineers continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the Vodafone 3G network delivers reliable, fast network coverage to our customers whenever they need it.
“I am really pleased to be able to share the news with our customers today that we are tripling our network sites in regional Australia, offering significantly improved coverage right across the country. We are also very much looking forward to the launch of our super-fast 4G network in June.”
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