Background

Summary of Council decision:

Two issues were investigated all of which were Upheld.

Ad description

Claims on www.daddycashforgold.co.uk, for postal cash for gold services, featured a calculating tool which enabled potential customers to value their gold before sending it to the advertiser. Text stated "Use Daddy's Gold Calculator to find out what your gold could be worth. Request a FREE gold pack, send your item through to us, and we'll get back to you with an offer within 24 hours."

Issue

The complainant challenged whether:

1. the gold calculator misleadingly exaggerated the value of the gold and how much consumers would be paid for it; and

2. the claim "we'll get back to you with an offer within 24 hours" was misleading and could be substantiated, because, having sent their gold to Daddy Cash for Gold, it had taken three weeks for them to respond.

Response

Daddy Cash for Gold did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

The ASA was concerned by Daddy Cash for Gold's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule  1.7 1.7 Any unreasonable delay in responding to the ASA's enquiries will normally be considered a breach of the Code.  (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.

1. Upheld

We noted text above the calculator stated "CALCULATE THE VALUE OF YOUR GOLD!" and provided a price once details of the weight and quality of the gold were entered. We understood the complainant had received much less than the calculator had stated but noted that the ad did not make clear whether the amount received could be lower than that given by the calculator. We therefore considered, particularly in the context of a cash-for-gold service, consumers would understand the calculator to provide an accurate quotation of the price they would receive for their gold. Because Daddy Cash for Gold did not provide any evidence to demonstrate that was the case, we concluded that the gold calculator was likely to mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  and  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),  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  3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.  (Qualification).

2. Upheld

Because Daddy Cash for Gold did not provide any evidence to demonstrate that they provided an offer within 24 hours of having received an enquiry, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was likely to mislead.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising) and  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).

Action

The ad must no longer appear. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team and told Daddy Cash for Gold to ensure they hold robust substantiation to support their future marketing claims.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

1.7     3.1     3.3     3.7     3.9    


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