Bait and switch advertising

In April this year, Indovision distributed a brochure offering existing customers of their cable service the opportunity to upgrade their existing decoders to digital reception. As an added incentive, customers were told they could trade in their current decoder and obtain a new digital decoder for only Rp 1,188,000 plus tax, a substantial saving from the recommended retail price of Rp 1,613,000 plus tax.

Deciding to take advantage of this offer to upgrade to digital, I called the number provided by Indovision and was referred to their appointed agent in Denpasar who offered to upgrade my system for Rp 1,616,000. After adding the cost of tax and installation, the offer from the Denpasar agent amounted to Rp 89,200 more than that publicized by Indovision. When the difference in price was brought to the Denpasar agent's attention he refused to match the price, claiming the cost of shipping the decoder (approximate weight two kilograms) and communications from Jakarta was justification for the higher price.

I have sent several letters to Indovision's Jakarta office reporting my unhappiness with the disparity in price and asking them to take remedial action. But I am yet to receive an answer. That Indovision published a special offer to the public without warning customers that the price was limited to specific regions and has now refused to recognize its offer, is tantamount to "bait and switch" advertising -- an unethical approach to business, illegal in many countries.

JOHN M. DANIELS

Denpasar, Bali