Ad description
A website offering free solar panel installations, ashadegreener.co.uk, accessed in February 2012, stated, "The savings you make WILL be worth it. We recently surveyed 100 of our customers who'd had our systems for over 1 year. The average reduction in their annual electric bill was 37%, with 25% of those questioned enjoying savings of 50% and over". Text in a banner-style ad on the website stated, "Our customers are shaving an average of 37% off their electricity bills and many have saved much more than that".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claims that customers could save 37% of their electricity bill were misleading.
Response
A Shade Greener Ltd submitted the results of their customer survey, which they said supported the claim that customers could save 37% of their electricity bill using their solar panel systems. They said where possible they obtained electricity bills from their customers but in some instances had relied on figures quoted by the customers themselves, based on their own records.
Assessment
Not upheld
The ASA noted the survey results submitted by A Shade Greener Ltd. We noted that reductions in electricity bills were recorded either as monthly, quarterly or annual reductions and that a mean average of these had been calculated. We noted that the reductions were fairly evenly distributed, without any significant outliers that could skew the average figure and considered therefore that a mean average was statistically sound in this instance. We also noted that a minority of reductions had been quoted by customers, rather than worked out by A Shade Greener Ltd based on having seen their clients' bills. We considered that the best evidence would be results based on A Shade Greener Ltd having seen the bills themselves rather than simply being quoted a reduction by the client. However, we noted that these cases only related to a small number of the recorded results and had not significantly affected the average savings figure.
We noted that the survey recorded whether customers had changed their energy consumption habits since having the system installed and that most customers had answered 'Yes' to that question. We also noted that, under the savings claim, the website stated, "If you manage your electricity wisely - taking advantages of daytime electricity (using timer switches if you work full time) and stagger the usage of your appliances you will definitely notice a big difference, as have all our customers". We considered that it was sufficiently clear that the average savings claim of 37% relied not only on the installation of the solar system but also on customers altering their consumption habits in order to take full advantage of it.
Because we considered that A Shade Greener Ltd had substantiated the 37% average savings claim with their customer survey, we concluded that the website had not beached the Code.
We investigated the website under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising), 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation) and 3.11 3.11 Marketing communications must not mislead consumers by exaggerating the capability or performance of a product. (Exaggeration) but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
