ASA Adjudication on Vital Solutions Group Ltd

Ad

A magazine ad, for the Vital Solutions Group, was headed "Vital Solutions Group sia Accredited Security Courses". The ad stated "No Pass NO FEE … Give us 4 days & we will give you a career High pass rate ... Results within 3 days Start working within days of commencing course ..." The ad also showed photos which depicted four different jobs in the security industry: Door Supervisor/Security Guarding, CCTV, Vehicle Immobilisation and Self-Defence and gave the price for each course.

Issue

The complainant, who had enrolled in the Door Supervisor course, challenged whether the ad was misleading, because he had not received his test results within three days.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Vital Solutions Group (VSG) explained that all their courses were run through the British Institute of Innkeeping Awarding Body (BIIAB) and said that it was a BIIAB requirement that examination papers be sent to the BIIAB for marking within 24 hours of completion of the exam.  They further explained that they sent examination documents to the BIIAB via registered delivery and received the results the next day.  Once they received the results, they would then check that all the candidates' personal details were correct to avoid delays with the candidates' Security Industry Authority (SIA) license application further down the line.  VSG said they then relayed the results to candidates either via text or a phone call.  They also said candidates were encouraged to call in on the third day to obtain their results.    VSG said they preferred to text the results to the candidates, as this was more efficient than telephoning, and they believed that 80% of their candidates received their results via text.  They said candidates were advised to collect their exam certificate within 10 working days from their testing centre.  VSG provided us with a copy of the Overview of Time Frames for the Administration Process of the exams which showed that they had to notify candidates of exam results and arrange exam retakes within five working days of receipt of the results from the BIIAB.

VSG explained that their administration staff kept a tick sheet which they believed showed that candidates were notified within three days.  They said there were some circumstances when clients had to wait for longer than three days to get their results, for example, exam results may not have been dispatched on time or incorrect details were submitted by the candidate.  VSG explained that the complainants results had been delayed due to problems with his identification, but assured us that the certification had been dispatched.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA acknowledged VSG's comments that it was a BIIAB requirement that exam papers be sent to them within 24 hours of being completed and we noted that this was also stated on the Overview of Time Frames sent to us.  We also noted that the document stated that candidates would be notified of exam results within five working days of VSG receiving the results from BIIAB which, according to the Overview of Time Frames, would be on the same day BIIAB received the full exam documentation.

We considered candidates were likely to understand from the ad that results would be given to them within three days of taking the exam.  We were concerned, however, that that had not been the complainants experience and VSG were unable to provide substantiation to demonstrate that they generally supplied results within that time frame.  In the absence of any evidence to support their claim, we concluded that it had not been substantiated and the ad was likely to mislead.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We told VSG not to repeat the claim "Results within 3 days" unless they held documentary evidence to substantiate it.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)