Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A website for CFS Furniture, www.choicefurnituresuperstore.co.uk, seen on 4 January 2017 included a product page for a recliner chair. It stated that the item was in stock, delivery was within 3 to 7 days and included a countdown timer next to text stating, “LIMTED PERIOD: WINTER SALE OFFER ENDS…”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the claim "in stock" was misleading, because they understood that on 4 January 2017 the item had to be ordered from a supplier;
2. the claim that delivery was "3 to 7 days" was misleading, because they understood that it referred to working days; and
3. the countdown timer was misleading, because the sale did not end when it reached zero.
Response
1. Hansons of Leicester Ltd t/a CFS Furniture said that the item was not stocked by them, but by a third party. They had a “Live stock feed” that their supplier would update and tell them whether or not the item was in stock. This was updated every 48 hours. Their agreement with the supplier meant that they could pick from their stock and have it delivered direct to their customer. They said that in this particular case the supplier ran out of the item just before the feed updated.
2. CFS Furniture said that they did not realise that they needed to differentiate between days and working days, and said that this would be changed in future.
3. CFS Furniture said that the sale was not intended to cover the whole website. Items were discounted at different times and taken on and off sale at different times despite the timer being placed next to text which stated “Winter Sale Offer”. CFS Furniture said that the timer ending did not necessarily mean that the product would return to full price.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would expect an item accompanied by the statement “in stock” to mean that the item was available to be dispatched once it was ordered. Because the feed from the supplier updated every 48 hours, there would be a chance that a consumer could order an item and later find out that it was out of stock and could not be dispatched, or have to wait even longer for the item to be back in stock. The ad simply stated that the product was “in stock” and did not display any qualification to inform consumers that this was based on information from a third party. We considered that, as the feed was not truly live, CFS Furniture could not give a guarantee that the product was in stock. We therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.
On this point 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) and 3.9 (Qualification) and
3.29
3.29
Marketers must monitor stocks. If a product becomes unavailable, marketers must, whenever possible, withdraw or amend marketing communications that feature that product.
(Availability)
2. Upheld
We considered that, in the absence of further information, consumers would interpret the claim “3 to 7 days” to mean calendar days rather than working days. Because that was not the case we therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition12) 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) and 3.9 (Qualification).
3. Upheld
We considered that, if consumers were presented with a discounted item and a countdown timer, consumers would expect the discount to end when the countdown timer finished. We also considered that the phrase “Winter Sale Offer” implied that the discounted item was part of a larger sale that was likely to be time limited and seasonal, rather than simply being part of an ongoing rotation of discounted items. Because this was not the case we therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.
On this point 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),
8.17
8.17
All marketing communications or other material referring to promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such conditions or information is likely to mislead. Significant conditions or information may, depending on the circumstances, include:
(Significant conditions for promotions),
8.17.4
8.17.4
Closing date
(Significant conditions for promotions - Closing dates)
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told CFS Furniture not to state that items were in stock if they could not guarantee that the item was in stock and to make clear if the product would be subject to availability from suppliers, along with an accurate assessment of what that availability was likely to be. We also told them to make clear if delivery descriptions related to working days. We also told them to ensure that discounts did not continue past the stated closing date and not to imply that the product was part of a larger time limited sale if it was not.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
3.1 3.29 3.3 8.17 8.17.4 8.17.4.E
