If the Advertising Standards Authority does not resolve an ad complaint to your liking‚ remember that there is secondary recourse for consumers. This according to National Consumer Commission (NCC) spokesperson Trevor Hattingh.Recently internet service provider MWeb was been accused of duping customers into a year-long ShowMax subscription with one of its special deals.Consumer Charles Hellaby complained about the deal‚ saying its advertising was misleading‚ but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said in a ruling that it would not make any findings in the case because MWeb's deal had ended and it had undertaken to clear things up with Hellaby.Hattingh said that in a case like this where the ASA does not make a ruling‚ consumers can refer the issue to the NCC if they are still unsatisfied. “Especially if the basis of the matter relates to a product or a service‚” he said.The NCC will assess the case and decide if it should be referred to another dispute resolution agency‚ like the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud‚ or whether it will investigate the matter.Hellaby complained to the ASA‚ saying MWeb's website banner advertising an uncapped ADSL data deal‚ which offers customers “3 months' ADSL + 3 months ShowMax”‚ was misleading.According to Hellaby the deal required him to commit to a year-long ShowMax subscription‚ without his knowledge‚ at an additional R99 per month.He said this detail was not included in MWeb's advertising.The call agent who assisted Hellaby did not notify him either‚ he said.Emails between Hellaby and MWEB show that ShowMax subscription could not be cancelled after the free three-month period‚ the ASA said.MWeb said that the deal was over‚ that the advertising relating to it has been removed from its website and that it had resolved the matter with Hellaby directly.In the case of MWeb‚ the NCC would likely take a look at the contract Hellaby would have signed with MWeb as well as the advertisement.Hattingh said that a matter like this could lead to an investigation if a contractual issue was found.It normally takes the NCC two to three weeks to assess a complaint depending on the number of complaints the NCC has at a time‚ he said...