O800 Reverse calls pitch following glut of ASA rulings

0800 Reverse, the telephone call reversal service, has called an advertising pitch to handle its multi-million pound business.

The service, which previously did its marketing in-house, has been speaking to an undisclosed number of agencies, based both in the UK and abroad.

The successful agency will create a new, integrated ad campaign to promote its domestic and international reverse-charge-calling and voice-messaging services.

The phone service has fallen foul of advertisingregulator three times in the past two years.

In 2006, an ad starring actress Holly Valance was deemed misleading by the Advertising Standards Auth-ority because the costs of the service were not prominent.

The ASA also upheld a complaint against the company in January 2007, again saying that the presentation of the pricing information was not prominent enough.

More complaints to the ASA followed in October 2007, when a TV ad for 0800 Reverse telephony services, set in a burger bar, had pricing information scrolling across the screen against a background that was both moving and, at times, light. This meant the information was difficult to read and possibly illegible.

Ofcom has also received complaints about the service’s price transparency.

According to its website, the service, which is owned by Australia-based Reverse Corp Ltd, charges a call connection charge of £3.48, including 30 seconds of conversation time. Calls are then charged at 50p per 30 seconds from landlines.