Premium Phone Line PS3 Offer Probed By Icstis
PS3 advert that promised a PS3 'for Christmas' now under official scrutiny.
Erm.. despite what this poster says - you won't get a UK PS3 by this Xmas.
The photograph here was taken at Platform 6 at Manchester Piccadilly station this week. It shows the "Order (a PS3) Now For Christmas" advert that has been plaguing England for the last month.
SPOnG is pleased to report that the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of the Telephone Information Services (Icstis) has instigated a probe into the services of the Merseyside-based Mastercash, the company behind the advert.
We spoke to Icstis this afternoon, and were told by their helpful spokeslady, "It's too early for us to say whether this is a scam or not. However, we are working closely with Trading Standards and gathering information. But it's obvious that PS3s are not available in the UK until March 2007 - so people should be aware that they are not getting a UK product."
It should also be obvious in the light of the Lik-Sang judgement in the High Court earlier this year that if Mastercash is importing Playstation 3s from abroad prior to the official UK launch, Sony itself should be asking some pretty pointed questions.
Of course, in a manner beloved of delving reporters the world over, SPOnG phoned the number - so you don't have to. It became clear that, at £1.50 per minute, the call was going to cost us more than importing a Japanese PS3 by putting it in a First Class plane seat and giving it a three-day stopover in Dubai for it to go shopping. It was also blindingly obvious that we would not get console in time for this Christmas 2006. We hung-up in disgust. Had we remained on the line, we would have paid £7.50 (Okay, not as much as we'd predicted) for the privilege of not getting a PS3).
Have you spotted this advert (or any others like it) on your travels? Tell us in a forum posting.
SPOnG is pleased to report that the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of the Telephone Information Services (Icstis) has instigated a probe into the services of the Merseyside-based Mastercash, the company behind the advert.
We spoke to Icstis this afternoon, and were told by their helpful spokeslady, "It's too early for us to say whether this is a scam or not. However, we are working closely with Trading Standards and gathering information. But it's obvious that PS3s are not available in the UK until March 2007 - so people should be aware that they are not getting a UK product."
It should also be obvious in the light of the Lik-Sang judgement in the High Court earlier this year that if Mastercash is importing Playstation 3s from abroad prior to the official UK launch, Sony itself should be asking some pretty pointed questions.
Of course, in a manner beloved of delving reporters the world over, SPOnG phoned the number - so you don't have to. It became clear that, at £1.50 per minute, the call was going to cost us more than importing a Japanese PS3 by putting it in a First Class plane seat and giving it a three-day stopover in Dubai for it to go shopping. It was also blindingly obvious that we would not get console in time for this Christmas 2006. We hung-up in disgust. Had we remained on the line, we would have paid £7.50 (Okay, not as much as we'd predicted) for the privilege of not getting a PS3).
Have you spotted this advert (or any others like it) on your travels? Tell us in a forum posting.
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Comments
SPInGSPOnG 28 Nov 2006 15:46
1/2
It's depressing how low some human beings will stoop in order to rip off their fellow men.
Why don't these scamming scummers just get a job.
Of course, the whole area of premium rate phone lines is the underlying problem. Have they ever been used for anything than to exploit the gullible and desperate?
Why don't these scamming scummers just get a job.
Of course, the whole area of premium rate phone lines is the underlying problem. Have they ever been used for anything than to exploit the gullible and desperate?
RiseFromYourGrave 29 Nov 2006 00:06
2/2
its even got the boomerang in the pic, surely a scam