Ad description
An email promoting holiday accommodation stated "Holidays on the coast from £119 / week … Malaga from £119/week …Prices correct as of 20/03/2015 based on a 2 bedroom property rented between March 2015 and August 2015".
Issue
The complainant, who had been unable to locate any accommodation available at the stated "from" price, challenged whether the claims "from £119/week" were misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
HomeAway UK Ltd t/a Owners Direct explained that the email ad was a newsletter that customers had opted-into and they did not believe it was an ad. They said it was sent out to 1.5 million subscribers and they had not received any complaints. They explained that, because holiday prices generally increased as the booking date approached, they had included the "Prices correct as of" qualification. They explained that owners of properties used the website to promote their accommodation to rent out and directly entered the cost. Therefore, Owners Direct had no control over the pricing. They explained there were a number of properties located in Devon, Cornwall, Majorca and Tenerife, available at the advertised "from" prices and provided screenshots to demonstrate examples of accommodation available at that price. They explained that the image was intended to represent holiday accommodation in the specified area and did not believe consumers would interpret the image and claim to mean that the property shown was available at the advertised "from" price. They said they were willing to amend their emails, basing "from" prices on the lowest cost of accommodation available in the specified area, and ensuring that a sufficient number of weeks were available at that price, while including a disclaimer that stated that the images represented a "wide range of properties available in the area".
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would interpret the image of the property with the claim "Malaga from £119/week" to mean that the accommodation shown in the photo was available at a minimum price of £119 per week. However, we understood the image was intended to represent a wide range of properties in the area and, therefore, the "from" price was not relevant to the accommodation shown in the image. We noted CAP Code rule stated price statements "must relate to the product featured in the marketing communication" and we had not seen evidence to demonstrate that there was holiday accommodation in Malaga available at the "from" price. We also noted that Owners Direct had not provided evidence to demonstrate that the property in the picture was available at the advertised "from" price for a sufficient number of weeks. While we acknowledged Owners Direct were willing to ensure future "from" prices were available for a sufficient number of weeks and to amend the ad to include a disclaimer stating that the images were indicative of a "wide range of properties available in the area", we considered the qualification would contradict, rather than clarify, the overall impression a consumer would get from the ad. Because we had not seen sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the accommodation in the photo was available at the "from" price for a sufficient number of weeks, we concluded 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. 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), 3.27 3.27 Marketers must make a reasonable estimate of demand for advertised products. 3.28 3.28 Marketing communications that quote a price for a featured product must state any reasonable grounds the marketer has for believing that it might not be able to supply the advertised (or an equivalent) product at the advertised price within a reasonable period and in reasonable quantities. In particular: 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).
Action
The ad must not appear in its current form. We told Owners Direct to ensure future marketing communications did not misleadingly imply that holiday accommodation was available at a minimum price and that they held sufficient documentary evidence to demonstrate that the property was available at the advertised "from" price for a sufficient number of weeks.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
3.1 3.17 3.22 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.7
