Ad description

The website www.evanshalshaw.com included listings for used cars, which each stated a price.  Text on the web page associated with each car included the text "Only £X,XXX".

Issue

The complainant, who had purchased a car and was charged an additional fee of £98.99, challenged whether the price claims were misleading.

Response

CD Bramall Dealerships Ltd (CD Bramall) said the additional fee was for the vehicle administration fee.  That was an optional product, which was explained to customers, along with the other optional extras available, before they chose whether to purchase them.  They said their point of sale material, which was attached to every car, made clear that the additional product was available and that the fee was optional.  In addition, customers must elect to purchase optional extras rather than them being automatically sold with a car.  They said that policy was communicated in all their relevant sales training and testing and had been reiterated in a circular from their Chief Operating Officer.  They submitted the circular and the point of sale material. CD Bramall said it would not be appropriate to include the cost of the optional product in the price of the car and they therefore believed the ad was not misleading.

They believed the point of sale material had been present when the complainant had made his purchase and that the product was described to him as being optional by members of the sales team.  They said each item on an invoice was also run through with consumers and they pointed out that the optional product purchased was shown as a separate item on the complainant's invoice.  CD Bramall said they were, as with all vehicle sales, prepared to sell the car at the advertised price.  They also submitted a sample of invoices that related to purchases in which the vehicle administration fee had not been paid.  They said the ad was for the car, not for any additional optional products that were available, and it did not omit any material information in relation to the car itself when the available space was taken into consideration.  They believed it was not misleading for an ad not to include references to the various additional products that were available at the same time as a car was purchased.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the website included further details of the vehicles, which included a list of what was included with each car.  We noted those lists did not refer to the vehicle administration fee, which the circular submitted stated included background checks on the vehicle, its mileage and an indemnity subscription.  While we were concerned that the complainant did not seem to have been aware that the additional fee he paid was optional, which was a matter separate to the advertising, we understood the car was available for the advertised price.  We noted the sample of invoices submitted by CD Bramall demonstrated that customers had purchased cars without having paid the vehicle administration fee.  We considered it would have been desirable for the ad to make clear that additional costs would apply to any optional extras consumers might choose to purchase but noted that it did not state or imply that the vehicle administration fee was included in the advertised price.  For the reasons given, we concluded the ad was not misleading.  

We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.    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.
   3.4 3.4 For marketing communications that quote prices for advertised products, material information [for the purposes of rule 3.3] includes:  and  3.4.3 3.4.3 the price of the advertised product, including taxes, or, if the nature of the product is such that the price cannot be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated  (Misleading advertising) 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.  and  3.19 3.19 If a tax, duty, fee or charge cannot be calculated in advance, for example, because it depends on the consumer's circumstances, the marketing communication must make clear that it is excluded from the advertised price and state how it is calculated.  (Prices) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.17     3.19     3.3     3.4     3.4.3    


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