ASA Adjudication on T Whiteside & Sons Ltd

Ad

A radio ad, for a taxi company, stated "Wishing you a Happy New Year and thanking you for choosing to pay the lowest fares in the Fylde. Call Whiteside 711xx. That's Whiteside 711xx. Happy New Year to low fares ... the low fares taxi company".

Issue

Lady Cars of Warton believed the ad was misleading, because they understood that other taxi companies in the Fylde, including their own, had lower fares than Whiteside Taxi Company.

BCAP Radio Code

Response

T. Whiteside & Sons (Whiteside) said they set their taxi meters lower than the fares stipulated by Fylde and Blackpool Boroughs, which they said made them cheaper than other taxi companies in the Boroughs.  They said they guaranteed to offer cheaper meter fares than other taxi companies in the area and would reset their meters even lower if another company was to lower their fares.  They said, in addition, they did not charge Tariff2, a higher rate, on a Saturday and Sunday, which they believed made them at least 25% cheaper than other cab companies at those times.  They believed another taxi company offered a 10% loyalty card, but said they also offered a loyalty card on top of their reduced fares.  They said, if a customer found they had been charged a lower meter fare from a competitor than normally charged by Whiteside, then they would receive a full refund for the whole fare.  They said they checked competitor fares on a daily basis to ensure their guarantee was genuine and valid.

Whiteside said they understood that Lady Cars was a single vehicle private hire operator and did not have a fitted meter installed.  They believed it was therefore difficult to confirm what fares Lady Car actually charged.  They said, if Lady Cars grew in size and fitted meters, and were then found to be offering cheaper fares than Whiteside, they would lower their own rates or change the claim that they offered the lowest fares in the Fylde.

Radio Wave said they received a complaint from a taxi company in Warton, which stated that they were cheaper on some fares than Whiteside.  Radio Wave said they immediately removed the ad and contacted the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC).  The RACC advised them that the ad should not return to air and any future similar claims should be cleared by the RACC.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA understood that Whiteside set their meters lower than the fares set by Fylde and Blackpool Boroughs, but noted that this did not prevent other taxi companies in the area from offering cheaper fares; we noted Lady Cars, albeit a small company, appeared to be cheaper than Whiteside on some fares.  We also noted Whiteside offered to refund customers if they found their fare would have been cheaper with another company.  We considered that the policy in itself showed that there was a possibility another company might offer a cheaper fare, whereas the claims in the ad implied that the fares charged by Whiteside were the lowest.   Although we noted that Whiteside said they checked competitor prices and would consider adjusting their prices accordingly, because they had not shown their fares were the lowest in the area at the time the ad was broadcast, we concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code Section 2, rules 3.1(Misleadingness) and 6.1 (Fair comparisons).

Action

We welcomed the action taken by Radio Wave to remove the ad when they received a complaint.  No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)