The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has promised to investigate Apple’s claims of 4G connectivity for the new iPad in the United Kingdom after the Cupertino company failed to remove all references to ‘4G’ from its U.K. online store. Although the device boasts 4G capabilities, they are not available in the U.K. where there are currently no 4G networks.
What makes this issue worse is that even when the U.K. does get its first 4G networks later this year, the new iPad won’t be compatible with them because it does not support the same frequencies. Having realized this, British customers are unhappy with Apple’s claims.
After receiving letters of complaint from disgruntled customers, the ASA asked Apple to remove all references to the new iPad’s 4G capabilities from its U.K. online store. However, weeks later, Apple is yet to make any amendments to its advertising.
The ASA is now promising to investigate Apple’s “potentially problematic claims.” A spokesman for the regulator said:
If it appears that the problem claims we asked Apple to remove are still appearing, we will investigate these new complaints.
Apple was faced with similar complaints from iPad users in Australia, who found after purchasing the new device that it isn’t compatible with the 4G networks down under. The company was forced to remove any references to 4G technology and offered to refund customers who were misled by its advertising.
[via BBC]
