ASA Adjudication on 1st Active Drainage Ltd
1st Active Drainage Ltd t/a
Fast Response
C/O HJS
12-14 Carlton Place
Southampton
SO15 2EA
Date:
24 October 2012
Media:
Directory
Sector:
Household
Number of complaints:
1
Complaint Ref:
A12-205093
Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all were Upheld.
Ad
Two directory ads for a plumbing, heating and drainage company published in a local business directory:
a. One ad stated "FAST RESPONSE PLUMBING, HEATING & DRAINAGE ... 30 min response 24/7 ... Family Run Business Est 35 Years NO CALL OUT CHARGE CALL US NOW" and listed various locations and telephone numbers.
b. A second ad stated "FAST RESPONSE PLUMBING, HEATING & DRAINAGE ... 30 MIN RESPONSE 24/7 ...Local Engineers Covering Your Area CALL US NOW... NO CALL OUT CHARGE" and listed various locations and telephone numbers.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claims:
1. "Local Engineers Covering Your Area" was misleading, because they understood that the advertiser was based in Southampton;
2. "NO CALL OUT CHARGE" was misleading, because they understood that a fee was charged for the assessment of the problem; and
3. "30 MIN RESPONSE 24/7" could be substantiated.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
1st Active Drainage Ltd did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
The ASA was concerned by 1st Active Drainage's lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of the CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
1. Upheld
We considered that consumers would infer from the claim "Local Engineers Covering Your Area" that 1st Active Drainage had offices or engineers specifically located in each of the stated locations. Because we had not received any evidence demonstrating that was the case, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.
On this point ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).
2. Upheld
We considered readers would infer from the claim "No call out charge" that they would only pay a charge if repair work was carried out and not for a call out for the advertiser to assess or diagnose a problem. Because we had not received any evidence demonstrating that was the case, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.
On this point ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).
3. Upheld
We considered that the claim "30 min response 24/7" implied that the services offered by the advertiser would always be available and within 30 minutes of the consumer contacting them. Because we had not received any evidence demonstrating that was the case, we concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.
On this point ads (a) and (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told 1st Active Drainage Ltd not to make the claims "Local Engineers Covering Your Area", "No call out charge" and "30 min response 24/7", unless they held evidence to substantiate them. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
