ASA Adjudication on TopTips Racing Services

Ad

A direct mailing, for TopTips Racing Services, was headed "PUT US TO THE TEST BY CLAIMING A COMPLETELY FREE NO STRINGS - NO OBLIGATION - SATURDAY MAXIMUM BET DON'T MISS THIS 100% 'NAILED ON' RACING CERTAINTY!". Further down the page it stated "... Through our contacts, most weekends we have at our disposal:- GENUINE INSIDE STABLE INFORMATION THAT IS SO SENSITIVE WE CANNOT POSSIBLY RELEASE IT ON A PUBLIC PREMIUM RATE LINE ... when we bet on our Saturday Maximum Bet horses the result is often a foregone conclusion, long before the race is even run. Our connections leave absolutely nothing to chance ... This horse will be an absolute NAILED ON RACING CERTAINTY, and WILL NOT BE BEATEN! ... bet on this steering job in absolute confidence and remember, this horse JUST CANNOT BE BEATEN! ... you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We are so confident that this racing certainty just cannot be beaten, that in the unlikely event that something should go wrong:- IF THE HORSE FALLS, OR FAILS TO WIN FOR ANY REASON - WE'LL GIVE YOU THE VERY NEXT 10 SATURDAY MAXIMUM BET HORSES FOR FREE! That's right, we offer you this 'no quibble' cast iron GUARANTEE ... place your maximum bet of the season in absolute confidence and ENJOY YOUR WINNINGS! ..." Similar claims were made throughout the mailing. The mailing also included a page headed "OUR CONTACTS ARE IN TOP TIP FORM - JUST LOOK AT WHAT AN EXCELLENT SUCCESS RATE WE'VE ENJOYED ..." Below it listed 36 previous tips and results. It stated "FULL and complete list of selections as proofed to the racing press, with absolutely no omissions ... £7,020 CLEAR PROFITS ON ALL BETS TO £100 LEVEL STAKES!"

Issue

1. The recipient said the horse listed as the winning TopTips recommendation for 9 September was not the same as the recommendation he had been given by TopTips Racing Services (TopTips). He challenged whether the "success rate" list was genuine and could be substantiated.

The ASA challenged whether:

2. the claims "100% 'NAILED ON' RACING CERTAINTY", "the result is often a forgone conclusion, long before the race is even run", "Our connections leave absolutely nothing to chance", "This horse will be an absolute NAILED ON RACING CERTAINTY, and WILL NOT BE BEATEN!", "this coming weekend we are guaranteed to land a massive touch on this sure fired nailed on racing certainty", "you have nothing to lose and everything to gain", "this racing certainty just cannot be beaten", "stand-by for a sure fire MAXIMUM PAYOUT this coming Saturday", "nailed on WINNER", "You really must place your very maximum bet of the season with absolute confidence and remember, this horse just cannot be beaten" and "ENJOY YOUR WINNINGS" implied that recipients were guaranteed to win;

3. the claim "GENUINE INSIDE STABLE INFORMATION" could be substantiated;

4. the "'no quibble' cast iron GUARANTEE" was genuine because TopTips had not offered to honour the guarantee to the complainant and

5. the claim "£7,020 CLEAR PROFIT ON ALL BETS TO £100 LEVEL STAKES" could be substantiated.

CAP Code

Response

TopTips did not respond to our enquiries.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned by TopTips lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.

Because TopTips failed to provide evidence to prove their success rate claim, that recipients could earn over £7000 clear profit, or to show that they honoured their guarantee and had access to inside stable information, we concluded that the mailing was misleading. We were also concerned that the mailing implied recipients were very likely or certain to win.

The mailing breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (Non-response), 3.1 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 17.1 (Guarantees).

Action

We asked CAP to inform its media members of the problem with TopTips Racing Services.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)