At best, telesales scripts go big on the benefits of the proposed deal and skim over the not-so-great bits. At worst, they mislead the consumer either directly or by omission. The Consumer Protection Act states that when marketing any goods or services, the supplier "must not . express or imply a false, misleading or deceptive representation concerning a material fact to a consumer, or fail to correct an apparent misapprehension ."That's what some Multichoice subscribers have accused the pay-TV company's appointed telesales agents of doing - misleading them.Multichoice is no longer producing or "supporting" the old SD PVR and DualView decoders, so, if they break, it won't repair or replace them. This forces the user to buy the latest Explora decoder, which retails for about R2000.The company has appointed a third party, On Air, to cold-call Multichoice customers who still have old decoders "to see if we can help them upgrade".This is the offer: a DStv Explora, DStv HD decoder and XtraView installation for R169 a month over 24 months. And the two decoders are linked under one subscription.The initial On Air sales script detailed the Explora's benefits, including more movies, sport and series downloads on Catch-Up, but was completely silent on a very important fact, at least in the two cases I investigated.And that is that there is a world of difference between DualView and XtraView.DualView allows subscribers to have one decoder, and one subscription, but watch two different DStv channels on two different TV sets, each with full PVR capability.The new Explora does n't have DualView capability, a monstrous material fact.Because with the deal currently on offer, subscribers get great functionality in the prime "viewing environment", but when it comes to the second TV, linked to the HD decoder, you can watch a different channel, but you can't pause, rewind or fast forward; you can't watch your favourite shows on Catch-Up, you can't access Box Office movies, and you can't record a show.If you want all that on the second TV, it will cost plenty - a second Explora and another full monthly subscription.None of that was explained to Jane Middleborough of Hillcrest or Johan Odendaal of Pietermaritzburg in the sales pitches by On Air telesales agents.They discovered the drastically reduced functionality only after they had agreed to the deal and their new decoders had been installed.HER STORYMiddleborough contacted On Air in early August to complain about being misled and was told the company had reviewedthe sales call, and that it believed there had been no misrepresentation, because she had been told she'd be receiving an Explora with XtraView, and that's what she got."The dispute is not about the equipment received," she argued, "it's the fact that the consultants do not explain to the public that the Explora, combined with XtraView, does not function the same as the DualView PVR".Middleborough said she wanted her old PVR back "and On Air can take its XtraView back as this unit is worthless to a household of five".HIS STORY"The sales consultant told me that with XtraView, I would have "two dedicated TV environments" which, to me, was the same as what I had," Odendaal said."I was shocked to discover I had no PVR functionality for the second set. I'm worse off than when I had the old PVR."On complaining to On Air, Odendaal was sent a copy of his sales call recording, and thereafter ignored.Having listened to the call, I pointed out to Multichoice that, as in Middleborough's case, Odendaal had not been told a thing about the lack of DualView functionality, "which falls spectacularly foul of the Consumer Protection Act's full disclosure provisions".Odendaal also called for his deal to be scrapped and for his previous set-up to be restored.RESPONDING, Multichoice said recordings of the two telesales calls in question revealed that vital information had indeed not been disclosed."We sincerely apologise. We have taken this up with On Air and amended its scripts to ensure this is explained to our customers in future."As compensation, both Odendaal and Middleborough have been given a second Explora decoder to replace the HD decoder in their XtraView set-up, giving them access to PVR functionality and Catch Up services on both decoders in the home, for just one subscription fee, plus R80 for XtraView.Clearly anyone else who wasn't told the full story by On Air would be entitled to similar compensation.Multichoice says it has received only these two complaints "but we will review each case on its merits".Experience and the Hellopeter complaints site tell me that Middleborough and Odendaal aren't the only two who were misled by this deal. And had I not escalated their complaints to Multichoice, they probably would have remained unaddressed.If you're in a similar position, I suggest you contact Multichoice directly and ask that it retrieves your telesales call to establish whether or not you were told the deal's second decoder had no PVR functions.In fact, what I think Multichoice should do is listen to every successful On Air telesales call to determine if other customers were misled by omission as in these two cases - if yes, compensate where appropriate.CONTACT WENDY:E-mail: consumer@knowler.co.zaTwitter: @wendyknowler..