GOD SAVE THE QUEEN...MORE X-STREAM INFO....
FROM PLANETCRAP.....
EX-TREMELY DODGY
Posted by andy on 06/08/99 at 18:14 PST
About a month ago I posted a story about X-Stream, the oldest free ISP here in the UK, and their misleading adverts in the national press.
First things first, let's tie the loose ends up...
Despite disagreement from the company at the time, both in private discussions and from their managing director here at the 'Crap, they now accept that the adverts were potentially misleading and have agreed that future adverts should be much clearer.
They've also had discussions with the Advertising Standards Authority. They didn't explain whether these discussions were voluntary or as the result of complaints, so you'll have to draw your own conclusions.
I haven't yet been able to get any response from them about their much-touted "free weekend calls" offer. It turns out that their definition of the weekend is from midnight on Friday through to midday on Saturday, a total of twelve hours - somewhat disappointing for all those weekend surfers who sleep in on a Saturday morning.
I assume the legal get-out they'd use would be something along the lines of "there are free calls, and they're at the weekend - free weekend calls". But still, a bit misleading again, wouldn't you say?
Now, when I posted the original story, several people described X-Stream's advertising strategy as a "scam". Although I disliked the misleading nature of the adverts, I thought it was a bit harsh to dismiss the company in such a way. But maybe I was wrong?
When Paul Myers, the company's managing director, posted a response in the thread, he summarised his view with these comments:
I read your piece with interest and while being very well written, it doesn't seem to favour good research over gut feeling. [...] I hope you do support your talent with the foundations of good research in future.
Considering that my "piece" contained all of the relevant facts, despite his company's repeated failure to discuss the matter with me after agreeing to do so, I found that to be quite a strange criticism.
But still, it got me to thinking: If the company's managing director is so keen for me to dig a little deeper, then maybe I should... |
