Ringtone Offers – free doesn’t mean complimentary
Only in the ringtone industry can promoters get away with using the word complimentary to NOT mean free. Below you will find the exact words pasted from a mobile phone carrier’s Compliance Policy for Partners & Affiliates. Unfortunately they wont allow me to disclose their name in this post.
- Do not use the word “Free”
- Do not use the terms “No Charge,” “No Cost,” “Bonus” or any other term to mean “Free.”
- The only promotional term allowed for giving away Ringtones (or any other mobile content) is “complimentary”
Now I think this is very misleading to consumers when searching for ringtone offers. They will come across “complimentary” and most likely think they are getting something for free, when in fact they are being charged.
If you go to the online dictionary, you will see “complimentary” and “free” mean the same thing.
It seems the various ringtone providers are contradicting each other. Rockyourtones has the below rules:
The only approved synonym for “free” that can be used are COMPLIMENTARY and BONUS.
So here they have agreed that “free”, “complimentary” and “bonus” are synonyms – that is, meaning the same thing. You can see a sample ad below illustrating the confusion.
