ASA Adjudication on STA Travel Ltd

Ad

A leaflet, for a luggage freight service, stated "Too much luggage for your flight? We'll transport it for you! Use our unaccompanied baggage service get your bags across the globe … We can provide: … UK-wide collection service … Home to airport/port Door to Door". The leaflet then stated "Get a 10% discount if you've bought your travel tickets with us! Quote your reference number when booking. Check out our sample rates". The leaflet featured a table that compared STA Travel Rates with examples of Airline Excess Baggage Rates per kilo. For instance "Destination Sydney STA Travel Rates £2.65 per kilo Examples of Airline Excess Baggage Rates £16-£20 per kilo." A footnote stated "All the rates above are approximate and handling/collection charges may apply".

Issue

The complainant objected that the leaflet was misleading because:

1. it did not make clear that a minimum charge applied and that a significant handling and security charge applied;

2. the door-to-door service was not available to all destinations; and

3. the STA rates in the table were misleading because they did not take account of the additional charges.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. STA Travel Ltd said the leaflet provided limited information about the various services they offered.  They said it stated clearly that the prices were "sample rates" and encouraged recipients to consult their website for more information.  STA Travel maintained that made it clear that if a client was interested in one of the services they should obtain an online quotation. STA Travel maintained that the handling charge was referred to clearly in the leaflet by the text "All of the above rates are approximate and handling/collection charges may apply".  They pointed out that once the client received the e-mailed quotation all of the charges were stated, although they pointed out that charges were not always applicable. STA Travel sent a copy of a recent quotation sent to a client that gave full details of all applicable charges.

2. STA Travel said  the leaflet merely stated that they provided a door-to-door service, not that it was available for all destinations.  They said the service was available to the vast majority of destinations but some countries, such as India, did not allow it or made it impractical.

3. STA Travel believed the table of rates was not misleading because the leaflet featured the qualification "all the rates above are approximate and handling/collection charges may apply".  They pointed out that the leaflet also stated clearly, in both words and pictures, that they offered a baggage service and not a mail service.

Assessment

1. & 3. Upheld

The ASA noted the leaflet referred to STA Travel's prices in the "sample rates" table but did not incorporate or make reference to additional charges.  We considered that the minimum charge and the additional charges were significant conditions to the prices quoted in the leaflet. Although we noted the disclaimer at the foot of the leaflet, we considered that recipients were likely to understand that the table was a like-for-like comparison that was representative of the actual charges levied on luggage rather than merely the per kilo prices without the often compulsory additional charges. Because the leaflet did not give sufficient prominence to the fact that there was a minimum charge and additional charges and because the table of sample rates did not take account of those charges, we concluded that it was likely to mislead.

On these points, the leaflet breached Investigated under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1, 7.2 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

2. Not upheld

We noted the leaflet stated that STA Travel "can provide: ... Door to door [service]" but noted the service was not available to some locations.  However, we considered that readers were unlikely to infer that the service was available to any location. For instance, we noted the leaflet stated only that delivery was available "to hundreds of destinations throughout Europe and the world" and considered that such a claim was consistent with the STA Travels service being available to many but not all locations. We therefore concluded that the leaflet was unlikely to mislead.

Investigated under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We advised STA Travel to consult the CAP Copy Advice team for guidance on how to include the necessary information on additional charges in future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)