British Telecom has received a telling off after it was adjudged to have misled would-be customers over when their area may receive high-speed internet access.
BT's website features a fibre-line checker, which allows people to check when the company's superfast Infinity service may be available in their locale.
However, the Advertising Standards Agency had received complaints - 15 to be precise - from members of the public annoyed that the estimates seemed to move further back, as and when BT felt like it.
The ASA has now advised that the telecoms giant takes down the checker portion of its website to ensure no further consumers will be misled and has told BT not to make promises that it cannot keep.
BT 'disappointed'
In the ruling, the ASA wrote that customers had "expected BT Infinity to become available on or around that date; not for the date to be subsequently extended by three months."
Naturally, BT is pretty peeved, claiming that it was only attempting to give folks a rough estimate on when this advanced tech would be available in their homes.
A spokesman said: "This is a disappointing ruling. People clearly want to know when fibre might become available in their area and so BT has been publishing its best estimates on a regular basis. Those plans sometimes have to change however if local planning permission isn't granted or we find that a third party can't meet our deadlines," said the firm in an emailed statement."
BT added that 15 complaints was a tiny amount, given the thousands of people who have benefitted from their plans to bring superfast broadband to the masses.
Via Inquirer
