Ad description
The Jupiter Blue website www.jupiterblue.co.uk, seen in February 2017, included a product page for a loft hatch that stated they were available "From £49.50". Below the price, three boxes allowed consumers to choose a size, lock option and quantity.
Issue
The complainant, who believed that the price did not include a locking system which had to be purchased with the hatch, challenged whether the price claim "From £49.50" was misleading.
Response
Jupiter Blue Ltd stated that the £49.50 price was available (including a locking system) for customers who did not pay VAT, if they purchased 30+ hatches. They referred to a box below the headline price which explained the different prices when buying different quantities of hatches.
Jupiter Blue explained that up to 90% of their customers were trade customers who did not pay VAT and that the way they displayed their prices was standard practice in their industry.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that the hatch was available from £49.50 if a consumer chose to buy 30+ 755 X 555 mm hatches combined with a Budget Lock.
We noted that on this particular item, the price of £49.50 was available if 30+ hatches were purchased and that a box below the “From” price stated that customers needed to purchase 30+ hatches in order to obtain that price. However, the preceding page, which displayed a range of available hatches, simply stated “From £49.50” and did not include a qualification which stated that this price was only available when 30+ hatches were purchased. We considered that a wide range of consumers would be using the website, not just large companies that may have wished to purchase in bulk. We considered that the preceding page was not sufficiently clear that the “From” price was only available when buying in large numbers and that this should have been made clear on this page.
Additionally, the £49.50 price did not include VAT. We acknowledged that the website sold mostly to trade customers but we understood that it was also used by customers who did have to pay VAT. The About Us section of the website stated “So whether you’re in the trade or buying for your own property you can be assured of high quality”. The website also stated that it offered trade accounts for businesses, so we therefore concluded that the website was targeted at both business and retail customers. The CAP Code stated that quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that applied to all or most buyers. However, VAT-exclusive prices could be given if all those to whom the price claim was clearly addressed paid no VAT or could recover VAT. Such VAT-exclusive prices must be accompanied by a prominent statement of the amount or rate of VAT payable. We considered that the price claim was not clearly addressed to those who paid VAT or could recover it. It was not for example, included in a separate section addressed only to trade customers. We also considered that the text stating “ex VAT” next to the “£49.50” price and the VAT-inclusive price of £59.40 were not sufficiently prominent. We considered that the VAT-inclusive price should have been displayed as prominently as the VAT-exclusive price and that the VAT-exclusive price should have also have been accompanied by a prominent statement of the amount or rate of VAT payable. The box which displayed the price for different quantitites of hatches should have included VAT-inclusive prices for the same reasons or have been clearly addressed to trade customers who do not pay VAT, and include the rate of VAT. Because it did not do so we therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 (Qualification), 3.17 and 3.18 (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Jupiter Blue to ensure that any qualification that restricts what a customer has to do to receive the “from” price is prominently displayed with the price. We also told them to ensure that, where an ad was directed at both consumers and businesses, the price inclusive of all taxes was given, with sufficient prominence to avoid misleading. In addition, we told them to ensure VAT-exclusive prices were clearly addressed to those who paid no VAT or could recover VAT, and that they were accompanied by a prominent statement of the amount or rate of VAT payable.
