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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

O2 and the iPhone 5: when is a a pre-order not a pre-order?

Mark Bridge writes:

I’ve made a career out of choosing and using the best words… and using mobile phones. Such is the life of a technology writer.

However, I’m not obsessive about language. Lynne Truss has a point - yet her style isn’t my style.

But that’s not really relevant. You’re not here for my musings about greengrocers’ apostrophes. TheFonecast.com is all about the mobile industry.

Last week I pointed out that picking the best bits from other people’s tech reviews didn’t look good when the full version was pretty uncomplimentary. It’s often unwise to use words that don’t mean what people think they mean. Being economical with the truth can give the impression of being deliberately deceptive.

And today I’ve discovered another mobile network guilty of tripping itself up with words.

The Advertising Standards Authority has just upheld a complaint made about O2 UK’s website. A set of FAQ about iPhone 5 availability said “If we get your pre-order before 4pm the day before launch, we’ll get it to you on launch day.”

Unfortunately this didn’t happen for a number of people who’d pre-ordered an Apple iPhone 5. The problem wasn’t a delivery failure. That, to an extent, would be understandable. No, the problem was O2’s definition of a pre-order.

You see, if you ordered the iPhone 5 from O2 before the launch day, you might think this was a pre-order. That’s what regular English usage would suggest. O2 had a different definition. It had a pre-order - oops, no, a Pre-Order - and a Standard Order. If you had a Pre-Order then, well, you had a pre-order. If you had a Standard Order, it meant O2 had exhausted its allocated stock and might take up to three weeks to deliver the phone. Customers with a standard order - sorry, done it again - a Standard Order would have been told they had longer to wait.

The ASA wasn’t happy with that. It said the online FAQ answer gave a misleading impression regardless of what customers were told when they ordered, leading it to conclude the claim was misleading.

In its defence, O2 said the FAQ was only online for nine days and admitted that “in hindsight it appeared that some people making Standard Orders while the FAQ was online may have been confused by it”.

It seems O2 meant well - but its choice of words has left it in the ASA’s hall of shame.

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Categories: Networks and operators, OpinionNumber of views: 13569

Tags: advertising o2 uk iphone

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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 25th March 2013

I’m moving on up, you’re moving on out

Mark Bridge writes:

Farewell, ST-Ericsson. It didn’t bode well when CEO Didier Lamouche announced his planned departure a couple of weeks ago – and now both STMicroelectronics and Ericsson have confirmed they’ll be splitting the company between them before closing it down.

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The secret to starting a successful mobile-related business

Mark Bridge writes:

What’s the secret to starting a successful mobile-related business?

It turns out there’s no magic answer… but there’s plenty of useful advice worth listening to. There are also plenty of opportunities to get funding, whether in the form of a loan, a grant or an investment.

Author: The Fonecast
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Article rating: 5.0

Freezing Android Phones just won't break the ice with forensic investigators

Yuval Ben-Moshe writes:

Freezing Android phones just won't break the ice with forensic investigators.

Leading and available mobile forensics tools already have similar capabilities, enabling law enforcement to effectively obtain admissible evidences from mobile devices.

Author: The Fonecast
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Last week at The Fonecast: 18th March 2013

S4 for Samsung, 1m for BlackBerry

Mark Bridge writes:

Samsung launched a new flagship Android smartphone last week, eschewing Roman numerals and calling it the Galaxy S4. Well, it was never really going to be the SIV, was it?

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The wristwatch phone isn't a new idea… but is it the right time for the Apple iWatch?

Mark Bridge writes:

Apple is rumoured to be planning a wearable mobile device: the iWatch. Whether it’s an iPhone accessory or a stand-alone mobile phone… or a figment of overactive imaginations… remains to be seen, although press reports suggest it could be launched by the end of 2013.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

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