Ad description
A sales promotion, seen on www.argos.co.uk on 15 February 2012, offered an Olympus VR-310 14MP Digital Compact Camera. Text stated £98.95 Save 10% Was £109.99 ... Check stock in your area Enter full postcode ... Reserve it now ... Currently out of stock for delivery".
Issue
The complainant, who was unable to purchase the camera at a number of stores across the UK, challenged whether it was available.
Response
Argos Ltd (Argos) said the camera was a "Run Out" product and that "Run Out' products were either sent to the clearance team to be displayed on the clearance website, or returned to the supplier. They also said, in this case, the camera had been withdrawn from stores and returned to the supplier. They said, as a result of an error which they were investigating, the product page had not been removed from the main Argos website when the new catalogue was launched. They also said, because the product was returned to the supplier, there was no stock to sell and therefore no tracking of its sales and availability during the period in which it appeared.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted Argos said an error had occurred which resulted in the display of the product on the main Argos website. We also noted they said, because the product had been returned to the supplier, there was no stock to sell. However, we considered that Argos had a responsibility to ensure that their websites did not mislead consumers, which included ensuring that sales promotions were administered in such a way that avoided causing unnecessary disappointment. We considered that, because the product was unavailable, Argos had failed to conduct their promotion equitably and efficiently and concluded that it breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition12) 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),
8.2
8.2
Promoters must conduct their promotions equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants. Promoters must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment.
(Sales promotions),
8.9
8.9
Phrases such as “subject to availability” do not relieve promoters of their obligation to do everything reasonable to avoid disappointing participants.
(Availability) and
8.14
8.14
Promoters must ensure that their promotions are conducted under proper supervision and make adequate resources available to administer them. Promoters, agencies and intermediaries should not give consumers justifiable grounds for complaint.
(Administration).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Argos to ensure that future sales promotions were conducted equitably and efficiently.
