ASA Adjudication on Registration Transfers Ltd

Ad

Three national press ads and one magazine ad for personal number plates.

a. The first national press ad was headed "The UK's largest selection of personal registrations" and stated "Regtransfers has been pleased to provide personal registrations for over half a million satisfied customers".

b. A second national press ad was headed "The World of Personal Number Plates..." and stated "Regtransfers has been pleased to provide personal registration transfer services for over half a million satisfied clients ... Largest selection".

c. A third national press ad featured the same headline and text as ad (b). In addition the ad stated "we have access to ... a staggering 45 million possibilities".

d. The magazine ad was headed "The UK's largest selection of Quality registrations" and featured the same text as ad (c).

Issue

British Car Registrations challenged whether the claim:

1. "over half a million satisfied customers" was misleading and could be substantiated;

2. "The UK's largest selection of personal registrations" in ad (a), "Largest selection" in ads (b) and (c) and "The UK's largest selection of Quality registrations" in ad (d) were misleading and could be substantiated; and

3. "we have access to ... a staggering 45 million possibilities" was misleading and could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. RegTransfers said they offered a range of services, including registration sales, acrylic number plate sales, transfer services and quotations. They also published a free magazine. They said their quotation service alone accounted for approximately 531,000 customers. Their magazine accounted for another 276,000 and their registration sales and transfers services for hundreds of thousands more.

They said they had recently published the results of their customer satisfaction survey in their magazine, which showed that the "overall experience" category had been given a rating of 94% positive. In view of that rating and that over half a million people used their quotation service alone, they considered that the claim "half a million satisfied customers" was justified.

2. RegTransfers said the claims "UK's largest selection of personal registrations" and "The UK's largest selection of quality registrations" were accurate. They said there were 142 other number plate dealers in the UK (which included private individual dealers) and 141 of those dealers sent them a list of their stock with the intention that they would try to sell on their behalf (they provided a list of those dealers and said the only dealer that did not provide them with a list of their stock was British Car Registrations). They said they also sold numbers on behalf of private vendors and had access to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's (DVLA) millions of available registrations.

They said they also owned over 12,000 individually selected registrations. They said that list of stock was not shared with other dealers, specifically to maintain their competitive advantage in having a wider and more exclusive selection. They provided that list of registrations.

3. RegTransfers said the claim "We have access to ... a staggering 45 million possibilities" was the result of an oversight for which they were at fault. They said they had planned not to use the "45 million" figure but an old press ad had been used as a template for more recent advertising and the re-inclusion of that claim had escaped their notice. They said they accepted that it was unsubstantiated and would ensure the claims did not appear again.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted RegTransfers customer satisfaction survey figures showed a rating of 94% positive. We also noted over half a million people had used their quotation service or obtained their magazine. We accepted that people who had used their services could be described as "satisfied" given that rating. However, we noted the claim stated that Regtransfers had provided personal registrations for over half a million satisfied customers. Because they did not provide evidence that over half a million people had bought registration plates from them, we considered that Regtransfers had not substantiated the claim and it was likely to mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

2. Not upheld

We noted RegTransfers also had access to the DVLAs available registrations and 141 other registration dealers, which included private individual dealers and all the professional dealers in the UK of which RegTransfers were aware (apart from the complainant), also sent their lists of registration numbers to RegTransfers. We also noted RegTransfers did not provide their own list of over 12,000 registration numbers to any other companies. We contacted several of the registration dealers on the list provided by RegTransfers; those dealers confirmed that they provided their whole lists of stock to RegTransfers.

Because RegTransfers had access to the DVLA registrations and to 141 other dealers' registrations, as well as their own private list of over 12,000 registrations, we concluded that they had substantiated the claim "the UK's largest selection" and it was therefore unlikely to mislead.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons) but did not find it in breach.

3. Upheld

We noted the "45 million" figure had been used in error and RegTransfers did not have evidence to support the claim. We welcomed RegTransfers' assurance that the claim would not appear again. We concluded that the claim was unsubstantiated and misleading.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

We told Registration Transfers not to repeat the claim "half a million satisfied customers" and asked them to ensure that they held documentary evidence for all their future claims. We advised them to seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team for help with their future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)