Ad description
A website, www.computersfixed4u.co.uk, stated "Our promise... No FIX, No Fee !"
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim "No FIX, No Fee" was misleading and omitted significant information as they believed a £20 non-refundable deposit was required.
Response
Computers Fixed 4U told us that the £20 non-refundable deposit was a cost to diagnose a problem and was unrelated to fixing a computer and therefore the claim was not misleading. They said that potential customers would be told about the fee when they contacted them and this would be charged if a diagnosis had to be made to fix their computer.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that a diagnostic test was different from having a problem fixed, but understood that a diagnosis was necessary to identify an issue. Because the £20 was a non-optional fee if a customer wanted their computer fixed, we concluded that the ad omitted material information a customer would need in order to make an informed decision about the service. The ad was, therefore, misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12), rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.9
3.9
Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification).
Action
The ad must not appear in its current form. We told Computers Fixed 4U to make clear if a non-refundable fee applied for diagnosis.
