Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website ad for a car dealership, at www.pentagon-group.co.uk, listed cars for sale under the heading "New Vauxhall Adam". The listing for each car stated a range of information including the price and the saving against the Manufacturer's Recommended Retail Price (MRRP), for example "MRRP: £11,350 Save: £1,506 £9,844" (the final price was in slightly larger, red font). Underneath, a button labelled "Full Info" linked to a web page where the price of the car, the MRRP and the saving were stated again in the top right-hand corner. Further down the web page, in a box headed "5 YEARS 0% FINANCE £0 DEPOSIT", text included "... Vauxhall Partners, £1,000 Pentagon Swappage and additional Pentagon discount included in the above price ...".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the ad misleadingly implied that the cars were available at the discounted price to all consumers; and
2. the qualifications to the discounted price offers were presented clearly.
Response
1. & 2. Pentagon Motor Holdings Ltd t/a Pentagon explained that the stated prices included three discounts;: a 'Pentagon' discount; a Vauxhall Partners discount; and a 'Swappage' discount. The Pentagon discount was a discount on their margin which all customers qualified for. The Vauxhall Partners discount was available through Vauxhall for people who worked for certain companies or belonged to certain organisations, or who had a relative who did so. Pentagon said there was a page on their website which explained the discount in more detail, but they had now taken action to make that element of the discount clearer. They said that Vauxhall estimated that over 70% of the UK population would qualify for the discount, and that 54% of their own customers had bought a new Vauxhall through the scheme. Pentagon said the Swappage discount applied to customers who part-exchanged a car which was worth less than £1000. A page on their website provided further information about the offer, but they accepted that there was no direct link to that information in the new car section of their website and therefore the information could have been clearer to website visitors. They accepted that most customers would not qualify for the Swappage discount, and said they had now removed that discount from their new Vauxhall car prices.
Assessment
1. & 2. Upheld
The ASA considered consumers would understand that the prices stated in red, bold text on the web page which listed cars for sale, were prices which were available to all consumers. We noted, however, that those prices included three discounts which were applied to the MRRP. We considered the inclusion of the 'Pentagon' discount was not problematic, because it applied to all consumers. However, we noted that because the stated prices also included two further discounts, one of which was likely to apply to only a few consumers (the Swappage discount), and another which we understood had only applied to around half of Pentagon's customers (the Vauxhall Partners discount), the majority of consumers would not be able to purchase the cars at the advertised prices. We considered that advertising prices which included those two discounts, rather than the prices before those discounts, was misleading to the average consumer. We acknowledged that if website visitors clicked through for "Full Info" on specific cars they were provided with brief information that the price included three discounts, and some more detailed information on the Swappage discount. However, we considered that because the majority of consumers would not be able to purchase the cars at the stated prices, they were likely to mislead regardless of whether they were qualified with information about the discounts. We concluded the ad was therefore in breach of the Code.
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.
and
3.10
3.10
Qualifications must be presented clearly.
CAP has published a Help Note on Claims that Require Qualification.
(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.
(Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Pentagon that the prices stated in their ads should not include discounts which were not available to the majority of consumers.
