ASA Adjudication on kgb (UK) Ltd
kgb (UK) Ltd
Sterling House
Malthouse Avenue
Cardiff Gate Business Centre
Cardiff
CF23 8RA
Date:
13 June 2012
Media:
Internet (sales promotion)
Sector:
Leisure
Number of complaints:
1
Complaint Ref:
A12-191555
Background
Ad
A sales promotion on www.kgbdeals.co.uk stated "£79.99 for a TEAC SR2 DAB clock radio with iPod dock worth £149 from iQue - save 46% on waking up to quality sound!".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim "worth £149" was misleading and could be substantiated.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
kgb (UK) Ltd (Kgbdeals) said that the merchant, iQue, did not sell the product directly to consumers and as a result of that, they were unable to provide evidence that they had sold the product at the higher price of £149. They stated the higher price advertised by kgbdeals was based upon the price at which the product was offered for sale by the manufacturer. They provided a link to the manufacturer's website.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged the product was for sale on the manufacturer's website for £149, however, we understood from the complainant that the product was available from several other retailers at a lower price. We considered consumers were likely to understand the claim to mean that £149 was the price at which the product was generally sold but noted we had not seen evidence to demonstrate that was the case. 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 in its current form again. We told kgbdeals to ensure that recommended retail prices reflected the price at which a product was generally sold in future.
