Ad description
Claims on www.worldwidemoving.co.uk promoting TriGlobal, a company offering a "specialized consumer portal about international moving", stated on the "Company Profile" page, "www.worldwidemoving.co.uk is an independent internet platform, dedicated to advising consumers who want to move internationally. The most important goal is to simplify moving internationally ... Our organisation selects the world's best international removers on the basis of the strictest of criteria. Some of those criteria are: Registered BAR Mover".
Issue
The British Association of Removers (BAR) challenged whether the claim "Registered BAR Mover" was misleading and could be substantiated, because they understood the advertisers were not registered BAR members and they had neither sought confirmation from BAR that the companies they used were BAR members nor had their permission to make that claim.
Response
TriGlobal trading as worldwidemoving.co.uk (worldwidemoving.co.uk) confirmed that they were not a removals firm and acted as a portal arranging quotes for other removals firms (their partners). They said they were not a BAR member, but that their partners in the UK were members of BAR. They said they carried out checks when they signed up and removed them when they were no longer a member of BAR. They provided a list of their partners and stated they were listed on the BAR website as members. They said they had added a procedure to check their lists several times a year. They said using the BAR quality standard reinforced the fact that there was one standard which was relevant in the UK. They said the clients that used their services were content with their service.
They added that, since being aware of the complaint, they had changed the claim to clarify that "Our organization selects the world's best international removers on the basis of the strictest of criteria. Some of those criteria are: Qualified international mover, such as; BAR, FEDEMAC or FIDI movers". They considered that shifted the emphasis from "BAR" to "Qualified movers". They also considered that the reference to "BAR" would be understood as an example of their service being of a high standard, rather than merely good. They stated they would also clarify on their website that they were not a removals firm and were not a member of BAR themselves.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA understood that worldwidemoving.co.uk were not a removals firm, but acted as a portal, arranging quotes from removals firms for people who wished to move. We noted that the advertisers were not registered as BAR Movers and the reference to "BAR" was intended to relate to their partners, namely the UK removals firms for whom they offered quotes and arranged business.
Although we noted that over 50% of the advertisers' UK partners were listed as BAR members on the BAR website's members' search directory, we considered that consumers would understand from the claim "our organisation selects the world's best international removers on the basis of the strictest of criteria. Some of those criteria are: Registered BAR Mover" that all the advertisers' partners were registered BAR Movers, whereas we noted that some partners were not, or belonged to other organisations.
Because we considered that the original claim "… our organisation selects the world's best international removers on the basis of the strictest of criteria. Some of those criteria are: Registered BAR Mover" would be understood to mean that all worldwidemoving.co.uk's partners were members of BAR, which we noted was not the case. We concluded that the claim was likely to mislead.
We therefore welcomed the advertisers' action to clarify that not all of their partners were BAR members and that some partners belonged to other organisations.
The claim breached 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.
(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),
3.45
3.45
Marketers must hold documentary evidence that a testimonial or endorsement used in a marketing communication is genuine, unless it is obviously fictitious, and hold contact details for the person who, or organisation that, gives it.
3.50
3.50
Marketing communications must not display a trust mark, quality mark or equivalent without the necessary authorisation. Marketing communications must not claim that the marketer (or any other entity referred to), the marketing communication or the advertised product has been approved, endorsed or authorised by any public or other body if it has not or without complying with the terms of the approval, endorsement or authorisation.
and
3.51
3.51
Marketing communications must not falsely claim that the marketer, or other entity referred to in the marketing communication, is a signatory to a code of conduct. They must not falsely claim that a code of conduct has an endorsement from a public or other body.
(Endorsements and testimonials).
Action
The claim must not appear again in its current form. We told worldwidemoving.co.uk not to suggest all of their partners were members of a professional organisation if they did not hold supporting evidence showing that membership.
