Background

Summary of Council decision:

Two issues were investigated, both were Upheld.

Ad description

Two web pages for a locksmith company www.farnham-locksmiths.co.uk:

a. Text on the home page of the website stated "Farnham Locksmiths ... When it comes to getting a reliable locksmith service, you need a local service that is available around the clock. This is why at Farnham Locksmiths we are proud to be able to offer a 24 hour mobile service in Farnham and the surrounding areas ... All of our locksmiths in Farnham are fully experienced and we have serviced a wide range of market sectors ... If you need a locksmith in the Farnham area, contact Farnham Locksmiths now on 01252 XXX XXX". The ad also made several references to Farnham and used the word "local".

b. Text on the web page titled 'Contact Us' stated "For enquiries and bookings please call Farnham locksmiths 24/7 on 01252 XXX XXX". The page also featured a map detailing an address in Farnham.

Issue

The complainant challenged whether:

1. the reference to "Farnham" and "local" in ad (a); and

2. the contact details listed in ad (b) were misleading and could be substantiated, because they understood that the advertiser was based outside of the Farnham area.

Response

Farnham Locksmiths said that the receipt of the ASA's correspondence sent by post at one of the addresses in Farnham that they provided demonstrated that they were based locally. They stated that the Epsom address on the invoice sent to the complainant was a head office address for a company that they used when they were unavailable to attend a job.

Assessment

1. & 2. Upheld

The ASA noted that ad (b) did not list a specific trading address, but the map featured indicated a location and a corresponding general address in Farnham. During our investigation, our correspondence was sent to the address detailed in ad (b) and also to a different contact address provided by Farnham Locksmiths. We noted that the letter posted to the address listed in ad (b) had been returned.

Although Farnham Locksmiths asserted that the fact that they received our correspondence at the alternative address was sufficient to substantiate the claims that they were locally based, they did not provide any evidence to demonstrate that this particular address was a permanent trading address from which they operated.

We noted that the ad stated that Farnham Locksmiths offered "a 24 hour mobile service in Farnham and the surrounding areas". However, we considered that the ad, particularly the references to "local service", "local security specialists" and "part of the local community", when viewed in conjunction with the contact telephone with a Farnham area code and the map on the website, gave the overall impression that the advertiser conducted business from a permanent trading address in Farnham and that all locksmiths employed by them were based in Farnham.

On the basis that we had not seen any evidence to demonstrate that the advertiser was based in Farnham, we concluded that the claims in the ads had not been substantiated and were misleading.

The ad was investigated under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.    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) 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) and was found to be in breach.

Action

The ads must not appear in their current forms. We told Farnham Locksmiths not to make claims or list contact details that imply they had a permanent trading address based in Farnham from which they operated unless they hold evidence to substantiate the claims.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.3     3.7    


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