MFI Retail Ltd 333 The Hyde Edgware Road London NW9 6TD Number of complaints: 1

Date: 20 August 2008 Media: Internet (sales promotion) Sector: Retail

Ad
A sales promotion, on the MFI website, stated "50% PLUS AN EXTRA 20% OFF ALL SALE ITEMS IN YOUR BASKET!  Excludes appliance, sink and tap packages Terms & Conditions apply, minimum spend of £199".  Further text at the foot of the page stated "SAVE UP TO 50% + AN EXTRA 20% CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR OFFERS Terms & Conditions apply".  One of the sale items was a towel rail, reduced from £500 to £311.

Issue
The complainant challenged:

1. whether the claim "PLUS AN EXTRA 20% OFF ALL SALE ITEMS IN YOUR BASKET!" was misleading, because when he purchased the towel rail at £311, he was told that the price already included the 20% discount and

2. whether the maximum possible discount of 70% was available at all, because MFI told him no items attracted the full discount.

3. The ASA challenged whether the headline claim was misleading and should have stated "up to 50%".

The CAP Code:

3.1;7.1;27.4;15.1

Response
1. MFI said the promotion offered discounts of between 20% and 50% across their bathroom products category.  They said most ranges, consisting of several hundred products, were discounted by 50%, with some accessory ranges attracting a 20% discount.  They added that all sale items attracted a further 20% discount off the sale price where the customer spent at least £199.  MFI said all products included in the sale carried the original and sale prices and explained that the additional 20% reduction was applied to the sale price of the goods in the customer's online basket before the customer paid for them.

2. MFI confirmed that no items were available at 70% off the original price.  They reiterated that the promotion offered up to 50% off the original price plus an extra 20% off the sale price, where the customer spent a minimum of £199.

3. MFI said the headline "50% PLUS AN EXTRA 20% OFF ALL SALE ITEMS IN YOUR BASKET" had been removed.  They pointed out, however, that the headline banner across the site stated "up to 50% + AN EXTRA 20% terms and conditions apply" and considered that visitors to their site would therefore have been aware that a range of savings "up to 50%" were available and would not have been misled.

Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA understood that, when the complainant tried to purchase a towel rail at the discounted price of £311, he was told that the price already included the 20% discount and that this discount applied to the sale price and not the original price.

We noted the promotion stated "... PLUS AN EXTRA 20% OFF ALL SALE ITEMS IN YOUR BASKET!".  We considered that readers were likely to infer from the claim that the price quoted for promotional goods on MFI's online shopping pages excluded the additional 20% discount and that the reduction was to be applied once items were selected for purchase and placed in their online basket.  We noted, however, that had not been the complainant's experience and understood that the price quoted for promotional items over the threshold value of £199 on MFI's online shopping page incorporated both the 50% discount off the original purchase price and the additional 20% discount.  We also understood that this additional 20% discount applied to the sale price and not the original price.  We considered, therefore, that the mechanics of the promotion were not clear.  We also considered that the ad gave the impression that, once customers proceeded to the 'checkout', the 20% discount would be applied at that point.

Because we considered that customers would expect from the headline claim that the additional 20% discount would be off the original price rather than the sale price and would be applied at the checkout and be verifiable at that point, we concluded that they were likely to be disappointed to find out that that was not the case and the claim could mislead.

On this point, the promotion breached 7.1 (Truthfulness), 15.1 (Prices) and 27.4 (Unnecessary disappointment).

2. Upheld
We noted MFI's confirmation that no items attracted a reduction of 70% off the original price; the promotion offered up to 50% off the original price and an additional 20% off the sale price where the minimum spend requirement was met.  We noted claims in the promotion stated "50% PLUS AN EXTRA 20% OFF ALL SALE ITEMS IN YOUR BASKET!" and "SAVE UP TO 50% + AN EXTRA 20% ...".  We considered, however, that the claims were ambiguous and that most readers were likely to infer that a total discount of 70% off the original price was available.  Because we understood that no items attracted a discount of 70% off the original price, we concluded that the promotion could mislead.

On this point, the promotion breached 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 27.4 (Unnecessary disappointment).

3. Upheld
We noted MFI had removed the claim "50% PLUS AN EXTRA 20% OFF".  We understood items included in the sale attracted a discount of between 20% and 50% off the original price, although most items were discounted by 50%.  We therefore considered that the ad should have made clear that not all items in the sale would attract a 50% discount by stating that customers could save "up to 50%".  We acknowledged that text at the foot of the ad had stated "SAVE UP TO 50% + AN EXTRA 20% terms and conditions apply", and that similar text had appeared across their website, but considered that each reference to the maximum saving should have stated "up to 50%".  Because the headline claim had not stated "up to 50%", we concluded that it could mislead.

On this point, the promotion breached CAP Code clause 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We advised MFI to contact the CAP Copy Advice team for help with the wording of future, similar promotions.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)