ASA Adjudication on Dell Corporation Ltd

Ad

A magazine ad was headed "GREAT GIFTS" and featured a range of computers. Beneath an image of a laptop text stated "INSPIRON 15 Here's the laptop for e-mail, Internet and basic entertainment ... £329 Jet black comes as standard £122 TOTAL SAVINGS". A phone number and web address were listed below. The small print stated "Offers due to end 23/12/2009. Subject to availability, prices and specifications correct at date of publication and may change without notice ... ".

Issue

The complainant, who had contacted Dell to buy the Inspiron 15 laptop but was told it was not available and offered a more expensive model instead, challenged the availability of the laptop.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Dell Corporation Ltd (Dell) sent the sales figures for the month of December for the Inspiron 15 bundles at the offer price of £329 via their website and through their call centre. They said that data clearly demonstrated they had sufficient availability to meet demand for the Inspiron 15 package. They said they were at a loss as to why the complainant was unable to take up the offer, but suspected it was a one-off incident with a member of the sales team who was not aware of the promotion, and therefore offered the customer an alternative.

They acknowledged that should not have happened and said they had reminded the sales team of honouring all offers in the market. They said they regretted the customers disappointment.

Assessment

Not upheld

We were concerned to note Dell had availability for the Inspiron 15 at the time the customer tried to advantage of the offer, but had not offered her the advertised product. However, we also noted the sales figures showed Dell had sufficient availability to meet demand throughout the month of December for the vast majority of customers. Although we noted the CAP Code stated promoters should avoid causing unnecessary disappointment, because Dell showed they had sufficient availability to meet demand during the offer period we concluded the ad was not misleading.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 16.5 (Availability) and 27.4 (Sales promotion rules) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)