Ad description
A website for a logo company, www.25poundlogo.co.uk, stated, "We provide 100% Money Back Guarantee on all our packages. Most firms only offer 100% money back guarantee on particular packages and have small print, subjecting you to incurring admin charges". A further page stated, "We back our process with a whopping 60-day 100% money back guarantee! No fees, no questions ... Our Guarantee is one of the best in the internet industry (Not just the design sector). Here's why: 1. 60-day - 100% No-Risk Money Back Guarantee (no hidden fees). 2. Refund at any stage of the design process! No time limit. 3. Hassle Free. No questions. No claims. 4. Simple. Just email us and say 'refund me'. 5. Immediate refund within 5 days".
Issue
The complainant objected to the claims regarding the money-back guarantee because they requested a refund within the 60-day time limit but it was not provided.
Response
25poundlogo did not respond to our enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by 25poundlogo's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
Upheld
We understood that the complainant had submitted a refund request compliant with the relevant terms and conditions and that 25poundlogo had failed to honour the money-back guarantee. In the absence of any response from 25poundlogo, we concluded that they had breached the Code in this regard.
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) and 3.55 3.55 Marketers must promptly refund consumers who make valid claims under an advertised money-back guarantee. (Guarantees and After-sales service).
Action
The money-back guarantee claims must be removed. We told 25poundlogo not to claim to offer a money-back guarantee unless they could provide evidence that they promptly refunded consumers who made valid claims.
