Ad description

An ad for a computer game on the website www.amazon.co.uk, visited on 8 November 2011, stated "Want to receive this the day it comes out? Sign in to see if release-day delivery options are available".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claim "Want to receive this the day it comes out?" was misleading and could be substantiated, because he did not believe the advertisers ensured that the release-day delivery was fulfilled.

Response

Amazon EU Sarl t/a amazon.co.uk (Amazon) said release-day delivery options (RDD) were offered on selected pre-order video games. They said they dispatched RDD orders up to 4 days before the release day, depending on the customer's postcode, the shipping option chosen by the customer and the carriers available to deliver to that postcode and their respective delivery speed, in order to ensure that eligible orders for RDD arrived on time.

They said those who were not signed in to the site would see a message that prompted them to sign in to see if RDD was available for their default delivery address and that that message would be displayed until the last point when some customers would still have been eligible for RDD. They said customers who had signed in to the site would see RDD messaging specific to them at their default delivery address and that that would again be removed automatically once the release date became too close for them to ensure RDD was fulfilled.

Amazon provided a copy of the relevant sections of their terms and conditions and explained that RDD was a guaranteed form of delivery. They stated that a non-prime customer who reported an RDD order that failed to arrive by the release date would be refunded the delivery costs associated with the RDD delivery option they chose. They explained that that was what had happened in the complainant's case, because the carrier had failed to deliver on the release date. They provided details of the proportion of customers who received a refund for the delivery costs associated with their RDD order due to it arriving after the release date, which they believed demonstrated that the vast majority of RDD orders had been delivered on time.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted that the complainant had ordered a game and opted for the RDD delivery option, only to be disappointed when it did not arrive on the release date, and we understood that other customers had reported similar issues on online customer forums. We accepted that, although RDD was a guaranteed service, unforeseen delays could occur during dispatch and delivery which could delay a customer's order. We noted that the complainant's order had only been dispatched the day before the release date, but we noted that it had been dispatched using a 24-hour courier service and we considered that it should therefore have been delivered on the release date. We noted that the game was not delivered until the day after the release date, and we understood that the complainant had been refunded the cost of delivery as a result.

Although the complainant had not received the game on the release date, we noted that very few other customers had requested a refund due to the game arriving after that date. Because the complainant had been refunded the cost of delivery in accordance with Amazon's RDD policy, and because the vast majority of RDD orders had been fulfilled, we concluded that the claim "Want to receive this the day it comes out?" was not misleading.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rule  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1    


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