Cashback complaints have fallen, says Ofcom

Ofcom has published a new report called The Consumer Experience 2008, which reveals that complaints about mobile phone cashback deals have fallen from a peak of more than 600 per month in September 2007 to fewer than 70 per month in September 2008. It's also revealed that more consumers are contacting Ofcom about fixed line mis-selling and silent calls than any other telecoms issue. In addition, Ofcom revealed that consumers are increasingly aware of the number of different fixed line and mobile suppliers. 62% of consumers are aware of three or more fixed line suppliers and 89% are aware of three or more mobile providers (compared to 55% and 85% in 2007). That means 11% of people aren't aware of all five UK mobile networks. [Press release]

Apple iPhone TV ad complaint upheld by ASA

A complaint about Apple UK's TV advertisement for the iPhone has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ad, created by TBWA London, said "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone". However, there were complaints because the iPhone does not support Flash or Java technology, which is used by many web pages. The ASA upheld the complaints, saying that Apple's statements in the advertisement ("You'll never know which part of the internet you'll need" and "all parts of the internet are on the iPhone") implied users would be able to see all the website content normally accessible through a PC. [ASA adjudication]

Mobile phones and contracts feature twice in consumer complaint 'top 5'

Consumer Direct, the UK government-funded advice service, has revealed the top ten complaints it had to deal with in 2007. At the top of the list of over 1.5 million calls and emails came second-hand cars bought from independent dealers - also top of the 2006 list - with mobile phone contracts moving up the list to 2nd place. TVs were in 3rd place, with mobile phone equipment in 4th place - over 50,000 complaints about mobile phones in total. [Press release]