Ad description

A website for an emergency locksmith service (need24.uk) included large text which stated "…from 15 £ special offer" next to large text which stated "Emergency service - 24-hour call out - Door opening - Auto opening - Safes - Security - Inexpensive and friendly". Further text included "The Cheap Locksmiths - with an emergency response time of only 20-40 minutes! ... It is our ambition to keep our prices low, whilst still offering you the best service and the highest quality. You can, therefore, rely on us to perform tough calculations so that you have won't [sic] to worry about any unpleasant hidden costs. You can profit from the best services and fair prices that will pleasantly surprise you".

Issue

The complainant, who said they had been charged a £79.99 call-out charge plus a further amount to open their door, challenged whether the claim "from 15 £ special offer" was misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

need24.uk said that their service included, if necessary, the replacement of the lock. They said they offered their clients mortice locks from £15 locally and in their online store. They said that customers received information about prices during their order.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that, in the context of the ad, the claim "from 15 £ special offer" implied that they offered an emergency locksmith service from £15, including all non-optional fees and charges, and that a reasonable proportion of customers would be able to obtain that price. The ad did not make clear the basis for the claim or how consumers might be able to obtain the service for that price, and it was not sufficient for that information to be provided only after ordering. We were also not provided with any evidence that customers were genuinely able to obtain the service for that price, or what criteria applied to the "from" price. We therefore concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and 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.  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),  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),  3.9 3.9 Marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. Qualifications may clarify but must not contradict the claims that they qualify.  (Qualification) and  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.    3.18 3.18 Quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers. However, VAT-exclusive prices may be given if all those to whom the price claim is clearly addressed pay no VAT or can recover VAT.  Such VAT-exclusive prices must be accompanied by a prominent statement of the amount or rate of VAT payable.  and  3.22 3.22 Price claims such as "up to" and "from" must not exaggerate the availability or amount of benefits likely to be obtained by the consumer.  (Prices).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told need24.uk not to repeat the claim "from 15 £ special offer" unless they could substantiate that it was a genuine price available to a reasonable proportion of customers and included all non-optional fees and charges.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.17     3.18     3.22     3.3     3.7     3.9    


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