SayNoTo1890.com

Recently I wrote about a complaint submitted by a SayNoTo1890.com reader to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) about a florist in Waterford who advertised their 1850 number as a freephone number.

I myself made a complaint to the ASAI about one of the radio adverts for the Jack And Jill Foundation.

This one, voiced by the fake Eddie Hobbs, invites you to call their "cheap" phone number which is a 1890 number.

Obviously, if you’re calling from a mobile, this number is far from cheap – but no qualification to highlight that fact is mentioned in the advertising.

The response from the ASAI was that they’d spoken to the Jack And Jill Foundation who said they wouldn’t use that particular advert again and that the issue was now closed.

Fair enough. Until the Jack And Jill Foundation started using the exact same advert again.J

This e-mail came through recently from a SayNoTo1890.com reader, the primary recipient of the mail being the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland.

There is a florist on Merchants Quay in Waterford City, the shopfront of which advertises thus…

Flowers by Lucy – FREEPHONE 1850 50 80 80

At 15:06 BST on Saturday 25 July I dialled the number advertised, the call lasted 23 seconds and the operator charged me 30 cent. Where a number advertised as FREEPHONE is dialled from any network licensed within the same jurisdiction (ie. The Republic of Ireland), no charge whatsoever should be incurred by the person initiating that phone call.

Please advise on the procedure for having this matter resolved.

I haven’t been included in any subsequent communications, but I can guess what the response will be from the Advertising Standards people.