TelstraClear pleads guilty to misleading Sky TV offer
TelstraClear Limited was fined $5,000 plus costs in the North Shore District Court today, having pleaded guilty to
misleading its customers as to the nature of a Sky TV promotional offer.
A Commerce Commission investigation followed several customer complaints about a promotional flyer and magazine insert
that offered all its 30,000 Saturn TV customers an opportunity to subscribe to certain Sky channels. The offer was not,
however, available to the approximately 1300 customers who only subscribed to Saturn TV, and required them to sign up to
additional phone and/or internet services to be eligible.
In sentencing, Judge Field said that TelstraClear had been careless in not considering the effect of its new package on
Saturn TV only customers.
Commission Director of Fair Trading Deborah Battell said that the Commission has received numerous complaints about
telecommunications advertising and it was important that the companies involved complied at all times with the Fair
Trading Act.
“In this particular case the Commission was concerned that the offer created the opportunity for TelstraClear to obtain
extra business on the basis of misleading advertising,” Ms Battell said.