Verizon is heading to court against T-Mobile over claims the competitor makes in its advertising. The fight centers on whether T-Mobile can honestly say its customers save more than $1,000 per year compared to other major carriers.
Here’s what happened: last year, both AT&T and Verizon complained to a watchdog group called the National Advertising Division, or NAD, saying T-Mobile was making false promises in its ads. The NAD looked into these complaints and agreed that there were problems with some of T-Mobile’s claims.
According to Android Authority, the NAD recommended T-Mobile make changes to fix the issue.
However, T-Mobile only made some of the changes the NAD suggested. That’s why Verizon decided not to wait anymore and filed a lawsuit in Manhattan to force the issue.
Verizon’s main complaint is about that $1,000 savings claim. The company argues that T-Mobile is comparing their discounted promotional prices against Verizon’s regular full prices.
Meanwhile, Verizon points out that they offer their own deals and discounts that T-Mobile ignores in these ads. Think of it like comparing a sale price at one store against the regular price at another store and calling it a fair comparison—it’s not.
T-Mobile isn’t backing down though. In their response, the company essentially said Verizon is admitting their own customers can save money by switching, while also defending their math on the savings claim.
T-Mobile says when you add up all the benefits included in their plans that other carriers charge extra for, the numbers really do work out to more than $1,000 in yearly savings. The company is prepared to fight this in court, though no trial date has been set yet.
Source: Android Authority