ASA Adjudication on Stannah Lift Services Ltd

Ad

A national press ad and an ad in a trade show guide, for Stannah Lift Services Ltd (Stannah). a. The national press ad showed a photograph of a stairlift; text stated "Stannah has 140 years experience. More than our rivals put together ... Stairlifts for all stair-types … Stannah The Stairlift People". b. The ad in the trade show guide stated "Save something almost as precious as the environment. Your budget. Give stairlifts a new lease of life with the Stannah recycling scheme. Not only is it good for the environment, it also saves you money. Only Stannah has the experience and resources to offer a comprehensive stock control system that enables Local Authorities and Housing Associations to re-use these valuable assets time and again ...".

Issue

Minivator challenged whether:

1. the claim "Stannah has 140 years experience. More than our rivals put together" in ad (a) could be substantiated; and

2. ad (b) misleadingly implied that Stannah was the only company with the experience and resources to provide comprehensive stock control for local authorities and housing associations, because they believed a number of stairlift suppliers provided a similar service.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. Stannah Lift Services Ltd (Stannah) said, according to recently discovered documentation, they had been making specialist products that moved people and objects between different floors since 1828 and had therefore been making specialist products for 180 years rather than the 140 years claimed in the ad. They said their knowledge of products such as passenger lifts, goods lifts for businesses, homelifts, platform lifts, small service lifts and trolley lifts had provided them with a wealth of technical experience allowing them to manufacture and install stairlifts to private individuals for use in the home. Stannah said they had been making stairlifts since 1975.

Stannah sent details of how long each of their competitors in the stairlift market had been operating; the list showed the longest any of the companies had been operating was 47 years and the total for all of their competitors was 94 years. They said they knew one company had been trading for 151 years, but asserted that that company only sold lifts on a commercial basis and so were not a direct competitor in the stairlift market. They argued that they therefore had the most technical and manufacturing experience to offer private individuals in the stairlift market.

2. Stannah sent information on the Stannah recycling scheme that they believed supported their assertion that only they had the experience and resources to offer a comprehensive stock control system to Local Authorities and Housing Associations. They said they had dedicated recycling centres around the country where stock was returned, refurbished, stored, tested and then re-allocated to customers when needed; they also used other installation depots. They said that ensured they had enough space to manage large quantities of stock at any given time.

Stannah said they would remove any type of stairlift, including competitors stairlifts, within seven working days of the request. They said they refurbished, labelled, and stored the unit until it was needed. They said they ensured all their recycled units were individually tested on a test unit track checking diagnostics and operational functionality prior to dispatch.

Stannah said they had amassed qualitative feedback from Councils that supported their claim. They argued that their competitors only offered some form of stock control but not to the extent they did, and that was why they believed they had the most comprehensive offering.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted Stannah had been making products since 1828 and had been making stairlifts since 1975. We noted Stannah had made their comparison with stairlift companies only and had decided that commercial lift companies should be excluded from the comparison. We considered that readers were likely to understand from the photograph of a stairlift and the text "Stannah has 140 years experience. More than our rivals put together ... Stairlifts for all stair-types ... Stannah The Stairlift People" that the ad referred only to stairlifts and that Stannah had 140 years experience of making stairlifts. We considered that, because Stannah had been making stairlifts for 33 years at the time the ad appeared, the unqualified claim "Stannah has 140 years experience" was likely to mislead.

On this point, ad (a) breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

2. Upheld

We noted Stannah believed they offered the most comprehensive stock control system. We considered, however, that the claim "Only Stannah has the experience and resources to offer a comprehensive stock control system that enables Local Authorities and Housing Associations to re-use these valuable assets time and again ..." did not make clear that Stannah believed they offered the most comprehensive stock control system but instead implied that Stannah were the only stairlift company to offer a stock control system that enabled Local Authorities and Housing Associations to re-use stairlifts. Because we understood that was not true and other stairlift manufacturers also offered stock control systems to Local Authorities and Housing Associations, we considered that the claim was likely to mislead.

On this point, ad (b) breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Other comparisons).

Action

The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Stannah to remove or amend the claims "Stannah has 140 years experience" and "Only Stannah has the experience and resources to offer a comprehensive stock control system that enables Local Authorities and Housing Associations to re-use these valuable assets time and again ...". We advised them to seek advice from the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising in future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)