Misleading Advertisement from Maxis

I came across this hotlink advertisement in Today’s Sinchew(page 7). According to this advertisement, the call charges is RM0.10 per call to all phone lines and the sms charge is 7 cent to any operators nationwide. I immediately call 123(maxis customer service line), to check whether is there any changes in call charges for my line. Postpaid charges should always be lower than prepaid, or else all the postpaid customers might as well switch over to prepaid.

The operator told me that there are no changes of rate in my Maxis-75 plan. The advertisement I saw is the latest prepaid plan they have - Hotlink Total Mobile plan, the RM0.10 per minute is only limited to active 5 numbers and it is only during off peak hour. The 7 cent per sms is also limited to active 5 numbers.

I told him that the advertisement contradicts with what he told me. According to the ad, it is RM0.10 per call to all phone lines. Note that it is per call but not per minute. This means that if you make a one hour phone call to any phone line(fixed line or other operator), you will only be charged RM0.10. The same thing goes for sms – “any operators, nationwide”.

I asked the operator whether I could file a complaint on this advertisement. She said I could do so. I told her that I have totally no problem for the “RM0.10” and “7 cent” as there is a line of words - “terms and conditions applied”. However the “per call to all phone lines” and “to any operators, nationwide” should be taken off.

This is also one of the reasons I’m still sticking with Maxis. Though their network and mobile services are sometimes interrupted, their customer service is always the best!