Ad description
Price claims on www.imaginecrusing.co.uk included, for an "11nts Canary Island Explorer Cruise", "FROM ONLY £699 PP".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the price claim was misleading, because he had been advised that a supplement of over £400 would apply for travelling alone.
Response
Imagine Cruising said they did not intend to mislead. They said that while the ad did not state that a supplement applied, it did state "FROM ONLY £699 PP". They said cruises could not be booked online and consumers would be advised before booking by telephone that a supplement applied. They said prices were based on two people sharing unless it was otherwise stated and a supplement applied to any holiday for a single traveller. Imagine Cruising agreed that this condition could have been made clearer and said they were prepared to amend their advertising to state "BASED ON TWO SHARING", next to the 'from' price, once consumers had selected the options relevant to them. They did not believe, however, that it was necessary to provide that information earlier in the process.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted the price stated in the ad was a 'from' price and therefore considered consumers would understand they might pay more than £699 if, for example, the cheapest cabins had already been booked. We also noted, however, the ad did not make clear the stated per person price was based on two people sharing or that supplements might apply. We therefore considered consumers would interpret the price claim as being available to all travellers without additional charges. We considered the single person supplement to be a significant condition, which should have been made prominently clear along with details of how it was calculated, if it could not be calculated in advance, at least when the price for the holiday searched for was first displayed. Because that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
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),
3.9
3.9
Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.
(Qualification) and
3.17
3.17
Price statements must not mislead by omission, undue emphasis or distortion. They must relate to the product featured in the marketing communication.
and
3.19
3.19
If a tax, duty, fee or charge cannot be calculated in advance, for example, because it depends on the consumer's circumstances, the marketing communication must make clear that it is excluded from the advertised price and state how it is calculated.
(Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Imagine Cruising to ensure future price claims did not mislead and that significant conditions were made clear in future.
