ASA Adjudication on Jean Patrique Cookware Ltd

Ad

A catalogue insert in the Radio Times was headlined "Jean-Patrique PROFESSIONAL COOKWARE". Large text below this stated "FREE GIFT Jean-Patrique Professional 1.6L Classic Polished Stainless Steel Kettle worth £39.95, free with every order over £30". To the right of this text was a picture of a stainless steel kettle. Small print running vertically up the side of the order form stated "In the unlikely event of an item become unavailable we reserve the right to substitute with similar items of the same or higher value".

Issue

The complainant, who had ordered over £30 of goods from the company but received a substitute gift instead of the free kettle, challenged the availability of the kettle.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Jean Patrique Cookware Ltd (Jean Patrique) said the promotion appeared in the November edition of Readers Digest, published in October 2009, and they submitted a document dated September 2009 which they said showed that they had 1000 kettles in stock.

Jean Patrique said the kettles went out of stock on 12 November 2009, at which point customers were given a substitute gift. They said the complainant had placed his order in mid November, over one month after the promotion had appeared, and had received the substitute gift instead of the kettle. They said the terms and conditions to the offer made clear that the offer was subject to availability.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted that the documentation provided showed that Jean Patrique held 1000 kettles in stock before the promotion appeared in Readers Digest in October 2009. However, we understood that the promotion also appeared in a catalogue inserted in The Radio Times published on 10 November, and that it was that promotion to which the complainant had responded. We understood that Jean Patrique had run out of stock of the kettle two days after the promotion appeared in the Radio Times, and we noted that we had not seen evidence that demonstrated that they held sufficient stock of the kettle at the time of that second promotion. We also noted that we had not seen evidence that demonstrated the basis on which they had estimated the likely response to the offer. Although we noted Jean Patriques argument that small print next to the order form stated that customers would be sent a substitute gift in the event that items were unavailable, we considered that that was not sufficient to relieve Jean Patrique of the obligation to take all reasonable steps to avoid disappointing customers. Because we considered that Jean Patrique had not demonstrated that they had made a reasonable estimate of demand for the kettle, or that they were capable of meeting that demand, we concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code Clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 27.4 (Sales promotion rules), 30.1 and 30.2 (Availability).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)