Ad description
The "Returns" page on www.togs4specialsprogs.com, a clothing and accessories website for children and young people with special needs, included a product returns form. One of the sections stated "Reason for Return: Dead On Arrival. Faulty, please supply details. Order Error. Other, please supply details. Received Wrong Item". Text on the "Terms & Conditions" page stated "NO refunds will be given under any circumstance, unless item is faulty. Refunds will not be given because of e.g. colour or fabric, changing mind etc.".
Issue
A customer, who was unable to return their order for a refund, challenged whether the marketer had complied with the rules for distance selling.
Response
Togs4specialsprogs acknowledged the ASA's notification of its investigation but did not provide any substantive response to the complaint.
Assessment
Upheld
After initially asking for further clarification of the details of the complaint Togs4specialsprogs did not respond further. We concluded that they had unreasonably delayed responding to our enquiries, which was a breach of CAP Code 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 provide a substantive response to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
The ASA noted that the ad stated that refunds would only be provided if an item was faulty and that it did not include information on how orders could be cancelled. The complainant, who wanted to return an item that they considered was unfit for its intended purpose, said that they have not been provided with information on how to cancel their order or obtain a refund. The CAP Code requires that distance selling marketing includes a statement of consumers' rights to cancel orders, that marketers provide consumers with information on how they can exercise this right and that marketers promptly provide a refund once an order has been cancelled. Togs4specisalsprogs did not provide evidence to show that this was the case in this instance and we therefore concluded that their marketing communications were in breach of the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 9.2.5, 9.3.1, 9.3.2 and 9.5.3 (Distance Selling).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Togs4specialsprogs to ensure that their marketing communications included sufficient information about cancellations of orders and refunds, and that they refunded customers promptly, when requested, in line with the requirements of the Code. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
