ASA Adjudication on Screwfix Direct Ltd

Ad

An e-mail, for Screwfix Direct, had the subject heading "Summer Sale - Massive Savings". The ad featured an image of a DeWalt power tool and stated "SAVE UP TO 40% POWER TOOLS NOW FROM ONLY £49.79 SEE ALL".

Issue

The complainant objected that the ad was misleading, because the DeWalt power tool shown in the ad cost £249.99.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Screwfix Direct Ltd (Screwfix) said customers who clicked on the "see all" link would be directed straight to a list of the discounted items together with an image of each power tool on their website. They said the price of a selected product was 100% clear at all times and there was no risk of a consumer being misled. They said the use of the DeWalt power tool in the e-mail to designate "power tools" was not intended to mislead consumers into thinking they would be able to obtain a power tool that normally cost £350, for less than £50. They believed it was clear that the "save up to 40%" claim related to all power tools in the summer sale. They said, in addition, it was clear that the range of power tools in the sale started at £49.79 and there was a click through for customers to "see all". They said all of that was intended to refer to the range and was not, in their view, designating the price of the pictured power tool.

Screwfix said they had sent the e-mail to over 800,000 customers and pointed out there had only been one complaint. They maintained that if a consumer had known about the usual cost of a DeWalt power tool then they would not have been misled, because they would have known that the pictured item would not be available for £49.79. Alternatively, they said if a consumer was unaware of the DeWalt brand and the cost of their power tools, they could not have been misled as they would have just clicked through to look at the range, which did include a power tool for £49.79.

Screwfix provided a list of the discounts available on power tools during the sale. The discounts ranged from 14% to 40% and the prices from £49.79 to £249.99.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the ad included a direct link to a page on their website, which listed each of the products on offer and their prices. We also noted the price was prefixed with "from".

However, we noted the model shown was the most expensive in the sale and that the text "Now from only £49.79" was listed directly below the image. We considered that consumers could be led to believe that it was possible to purchase the depicted product for the price shown. We concluded that the ad was likely to mislead.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 15.1 and 15.4 (Prices).

Action

We told Screwfix not to repeat the approach. We advised them to seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team for their future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)