Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website for DIY Probate Pack, www.diyprobateforms.co.uk, seen in late May 2018, stated “LIMITED OFFER - SAVE £68 TODAY… normally sells for £97 through ’offline’ retailers. As part of an online marketing test I am conducting, I am making the DIY Probate Pack available to you directly, cutting out the ‘middle man’… Don’t miss out on this limited opportunity… At the low introductory price of just £29 if I order today”. Below this, the website also stated alongside a roundel containing the claim “LIMITED AVAILABILITY” – “LIMITED AVAILABILITY… There are a limited number of DIY Probate Packs available at the price if [sic] £29 & once they’re gone, they’re gone. Once this allocation has sold out, I shall increase the price back up to £97 … The DIY Probate Pack at this introductory price of £29 represents an incredible saving”.
Issue
The complainant, who understood that there was no information about how long the offer lasted, challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:
1. “normally sells for £97”; and,
2. “LIMITED AVAILABILITY”.
Response
DIY Probate Pack did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by DIY Probate Pack’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 1.7 Any unreasonable delay in responding to the ASA's enquiries will normally be considered a breach of the Code. (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in the future.
1. & 2. Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand the claims “normally sells for £97” and “LIMITED AVAILABILITY” in the context of the ad to mean that consumers would understand the price claim of “just £29” to represent a genuine saving against the usual selling price of the product, and that there were only a few available at the reduced price. We considered that consumers would therefore be incentivised to make a purchase at that lower price.
Berkeley Weston Ltd t/a DIY Probate Pack did not provide any evidence that the usual selling price of the product was £97. We further understood that the ad had remained unchanged since 2012. Because DIY Probate Pack did not providence to support the savings or availability claims in their ad, we therefore 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. (Misleading advertising), 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), 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) and 3.31 3.31 Marketing communications must not falsely claim that the marketer is about to cease trading or move premises. They must not falsely state that a product, or the terms on which it is offered, will be available only for a very limited time to deprive consumers of the time or opportunity to make an informed choice. (Availability).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Berkeley Weston Ltd t/a DIY Probate pack not to claim that consumers had a limited period in order to purchase a product if that was not the case. We further told DIY Probate pack not to claim a saving against a usual selling price if the product was not usually available for that price. We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance team.
