ASA Adjudication on Rehman

Ad

A regional press ad, for Rehman, was headlined "Top Brands, Low Prices Next day delivery". The ad featured images of a number of electrical goods including GHD IV Styler hair straighteners which were priced at £59.14. Text below said "Electrical goods at competitive rates. We buy direct from the factory and are major importers from Europe, Asia, and the Far East. We supply to the trade & public. New stock arriving daily ... 16 day unconditional money-back guarantee + manufacturer warranty". The ad included two telephone numbers. Further products, including an Apple iPod classic priced at £119.12 and a Samsung NC10 Netbook priced at £219.21, were listed in smaller print below. Text in the small print stated "Next day delivery available by DHL/City Link Courier Service. Compliance of distance selling regulations 2002, and data protection registered. Trust UK approved trader."

Issue

1. Three complainants, who paid upfront for GHD hair straighteners, an iPod and two Samsung Netbooks but did not receive their goods, challenged whether the ad was misleading.  

2. The ASA challenged whether the claim "Trust UK approved trader" was misleading.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. & 2. Rehman did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

The ASA was concerned by Rehman's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response).  We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.

1. Upheld

We noted the complainants had not received either the goods they ordered or a refund.  We considered that, because we had not seen evidence to substantiate that Rehman had fulfilled customers' orders, or provided them with a refund if the products were out of stock, the ad breached the Code.  

2. Upheld

We understood that the claim "Trust UK approved trader" referred to an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) scheme that was no longer operational. We considered that the inclusion of the reference was therefore meaningless and could imply to consumers that Rehman were approved by an independent consumer protection body. Since that was not the case, we concluded that the claim was misleading.  

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (Non-response), 6.1 (Honesty), 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness), 16.4 (Availability) and 42.4 and 42.5 (Distance selling).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We asked CAP to inform its media members of the problem with Rehman.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)