ASA Adjudication on HomeStyle

Ad

Three radio ads for a kitchen and bedroom supplier.

a. One ad made the claim “ a company like Homestyle … who trusts you enough not to ask for any money until the installation is complete – not a penny … “.

b. The second ad made the claim “ … we won’t ask for any money at all until the installation is complete – not a penny … “.

c. The third ad made the claim “ … HomeStyle won’t ask you for so much as a penny until the installation is complete … “.

Issue

A listener objected that the claims in all three ads were misleading, because they were only applicable to those who took up the company's finance option and not cash sales.

BCAP Radio Code

Response

HomeStyle confirmed that the "not a penny" offer was open both to financed sales and to cash sales. They sent five copies of signed contracts, showing a cash payment method, as support for the claims.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA considered that the examples of signed contracts showed that the offer was available to cash purchasers as well as financed. Although we were concerned by the complainants experience, we concluded that the ad did not mislead.

We investigated the ads under CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code section 2 rule 3 (Misleadingness) but did not find them in breach.

Action

We asked HomeStyle to ensure that potential customers were given the correct information about their offers in future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)