Six major broadband providers’ ads BANNED for misleading consumers over mid-contract price rise rules

THE advertising watchdog has ruled against six major broadband companies after they failed to meet advertising standards.

BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin have all been told to take down certain ads on their web pages by The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) after it said they did not make potential price increases clear.

The watchdog ruled that the firms had not been clear about how much customers’ bills would go up due to mid-contract price hikes.

Mid-contract price hikes are increases to your bill during your contract term.

Broadband and mobile phone firms typically increase bills every March/April in line with Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation, plus an extra fixed amount – often 3% – to account for other rising costs.

But the ASA said telecoms firms had made information about these rises too difficult for customers to find and that the adverts “must not appear again”.

For example, it said in some cases the firms had placed this information separately to the headline prices quoted on the advert, and in a less prominent position.

The watchdog said it had received multiple complaints from customers who felt they had been misled, and stated that the companies had “fallen foul of guidance” .

For example, it said an advert on the BT website featured the headline: “Get Ultrafast Full Fibre 100 for only £29.99 a month.”

But in much smaller text, the ad said: “Prices rise each year on 31 March by £3 – 24 month [sic] contract.”

And the ASA said the relevant information about price rises in EE’s ad “would likely have been overlooked because of its placement at the bottom of the page.”

The providers have been reminded that in future such price increases must be displayed prominently rather than in small print.

These rulings came as a reminder of CAP’s most updated guidance which was released December 2023.

The guidance said that “certain material information must be provided to consumers, in a specified format, before they can agree to enter into a contract for phone or broadband services.”

A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson told The Sun: “After working closely with the ASA to update our website and provide prominent advice about any price changes, we are surprised and disappointed by their ruling.

“Consumers visiting our website are greeted with a prominent message at the top of the page explaining in large bold font how and when price rises take effect, and this explanation is also always visible when consumers scroll, ensuring they are not misled.

“While we’re confident in the steps we’ve taken to repeatedly provide consumers with clear and easy-to-understand information about any price rises, we’ll carefully review their judgement and implement any necessary changes.”

The Sun also offered the other broadband providers the opportunity to reply and have not heard back – we will update readers if this changes.

This is not the only time providers have been warned about transparency with customers lately.

Last week, it also emerged that the regulator Ofcom had set new rules for network providers, so they must now warn customers when they might be hit with data roaming costs.

Data roaming is when you connect to another country’s network while travelling, costing as much as £6 per MB of data used.

The regulator ruled that providers must tell customers when these fees were happening to prevent them being unexpectedly charged.

Uswitch’s mobiles expert Ernest Doku pointed out that “while this is good news there is still inconsistency between providers – meaning a lack of clarity for consumers, who were hit with £539 million in unexpected roaming charges in 2023.”

To check your network or broadband rate visit your online account or phone your provider.

We recommend you always read the small print when buying into new contracts or making any changes to your location.

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