SAMSUNG AND GARMIN/GARMAP SCAM

[Dave A]

No ruling from ASA then given the voluntary withdrawal of the offending marketing material.

Are you satisfied with the outcome, Proseal?

[Profile retired]

No ruling from ASA then given the voluntary withdrawal of the offending marketing material.

Are you satisfied with the outcome, Proseal?

It remains a fact that Samsung tacitly admits that the phrases could be ambiguously interpreted.

You get a point where this is like putting good money into bad business. I have now paid school fees and will never purchase a mobile phone combined with a Gps, rather aquire standalone one.

[Dave A]

I suspected you might still be peeved. I thought them trying to seperate the GPS service from the maps service was a weak point. One is near useless without the other.

It's actually an interesting demonstration of the limitations of the ASA. They can get advertising withdrawn, but it seems they can't really compensate for the consequences suffered by those misled by the advert while it ran.

[AndyD]

Their running for the door with no ruling if the advertising is withdrawn is very disappointing. Closing the stable door long after the horse has bolted doesn't help the misled customers. Is this the ASA having lack of balls and taking the easy way out or a genuine lack of teeth from a crippled mandate I'm wondering.

[tec0]

On a similar subject my Nokia 5230 was advertised with GPS but I got no software to speak off. Thus yes the GPS can be activated but there is no software on the phone to use it. I phoned MTN and they stated that it is not there problem and gave me a phone number for Nokia. I phoned them and they stated that “some” models get the software others not.

I use a standalone GPS and to be honest the map story I had to figure out after the fact like so many things. That said what really makes me angry is MTN not ordering stock. As you all know by now MTN loves to advertise low cost 3g modems but in the Mpumalanga aria they are unobtainable. FACT I ordered one nearly 1 yeas 5 months ago and to date no modem. I visit the shop once every weekend and I always get the same story “no stock”

Is this false advertisement? In my opinion I will say yes because the cheap price promise get you to their store and you always have to go for the more expensive option in the end. Telkom is now pulling the same stunt with their 3g modems. So the short of it is ASA are not doing their jobs.

[Justloadit]

So the short of it is ASA are not doing their jobs.

Were you counting on them to do anything for the consumer?
Since when do any of these so called big brother consumer lookout parastatal's going to do anything but draw fat salaries.

[Dave A]

Is this the ASA having lack of balls and taking the easy way out or a genuine lack of teeth from a crippled mandate I'm wondering.

A bit of both, perhaps.

Taking a holistic view, I suggest having a limited focused scope like that is a good thing. Consider for a moment the complexity of assessing damages and penalties in what is potentially a limitless range of subjects. And too much centralisation of power also carries major risks. Let the ASA handle ads and consumer protection bodies deal with redress to the consumer, I reckon.

The "no ruling" issue is interesting, though. I expect the argument is if all you can do is have the ad withdrawn, and the ad is being voluntarily withdrawn, making a ruling wouldn't achieve anything. But as this instance shows, it does.