Ad description
The website www.sw11medical.uk, for a provider of medical and dental services, seen on 22 May 2017 offered, among other services, various pregnancy scans, including the "GENDER FIRST 16 - 34 WEEKS" scan, all priced at £75.
Issue
The complainant, who enquired about the "GENDER FIRST 16 - 34 WEEKS" scan but who was told that the £75 price no longer applied and that the price was £120, challenged whether the £75 price claim was misleading.
Response
sw11medical.uk said that they had changed the company responsible for creating and editing their website. They were in the process of updating their website and would ensure that the inaccurate information raised by the complainant was removed as soon as possible.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered consumers would expect from the ad that they would be able to obtain a "GENDER FIRST 16 - 34 WEEKS" pregnancy scan for the £75 price advertised. We understood that the scan was no longer available at that price. We welcomed sw11medical.uk's assurance that the inaccurate pricing raised by the complainant would be removed as soon as possible. Nevertheless, we noted that the complainant had first brought the inaccurate pricing to sw11medical.uk's attention in May 2017; that the ASA had first contacted sw11medical.uk in June 2017 and that the inaccurate pricing was still appearing on their website in August 2017. We therefore concluded that the price claim was misleading and that the ad breached the Code.
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) 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. (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told sw11medical.uk to remove the price claim and ensure they used accurate prices in their advertising in future.
