ASA Adjudication on ACHICA Ltd
ACHICA Ltd
C/O GSI Commerce
Unit 26 Broadgate
Oldham Broadway Business Park
Cadderton
Oldham
OL9 9XA
Date:
13 June 2012
Media:
Internet (sales promotion)
Sector:
Retail
Number of complaints:
1
Complaint Ref:
A12-191552
Ad
An ad for "Brio Pull Along Duck" on www.ACHICA.com stated "£11.50 ACHICA / £18.99 RRP".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the stated recommended retail price (RRP) of £18.99 was misleading and could be substantiated, because they believed it was not the price at which the product was generally sold.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
ACHICA did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by ACHICA's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded ACHICA of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told him to do so in the future.
We understood from the complainant that the product was for sale in major retailers for £9.97 and £14.99. We were concerned that ACHICA did not provide us with evidence to show that the recommended retail price stated was the price at which the product was generally sold. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.17 (Prices) and 3.40 (Price comparisons).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told ACHICA to ensure RRPs reflected the price at which a product was generally sold in future. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
