Ad description

Claims on the website www.mobilephonerepairing.co.uk, seen in August 2016, stated, "Specialized [sic] Repairing Company - Process ... If your repair is booked in before 12pm we can pick up the item for repair using UPS courier on the same day, offering a ... service using only genuine, [sic] parts for all our repairs".

Issue

The complainant, who had used the service, challenged whether the claim that the advertiser used "only genuine parts for all [their] repairs" was misleading and could be substantiated.

Response

Elite Phones and Computers Ltd stated that they had amended the claim to “Offering a fast, effective and professional service using genuine parts, if the manufacturer does not supply parts we use only the highest grade parts on the market”. They believed that this made sufficiently clear that they could not always use genuine parts when repairing mobile phones and computers.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that the claim “offering a ... service using only genuine, [sic] parts for all our repairs” would be interpreted by consumers to mean that Elite Phones and Computers would always use genuine manufacturers’ parts when repairing mobile phones and computers. However, they did not provide any documentary evidence demonstrating that this was the case.

We acknowledged that Elite Phones and Computers amended the claim following our enquiries but considered was not sufficient, as again, they had not provided any evidence showing that they used genuine parts to repair mobile phones.

Therefore, because Elite Phones and Computers did not provide documentary evidence to support the claim "only genuine parts for all our repairs", we concluded it had not been substantiated and was misleading.

The claim breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising) and  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).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Elite Phones and Computers Ltd that they must not claim that they only used genuine parts to repair computers and mobile phones unless that was the case and was supported with robust documentary evidence.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.7    


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