Bait and switch advertising

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