ASA Adjudication on AMS Tyres & Autocentre
AMS Tyres & Autocentre
233 Torquay Road
Preston
Paignton
Devon
TQ3 2HW
Date:
24 October 2012
Media:
Internet (on own site)
Sector:
Business
Number of complaints:
1
Complaint Ref:
A12-205039
Ad
A claim on www.amstyres.co.uk, promoting car tyres, stated "TYRES FROM ONLY £19.99. Click here to view our special offers."
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the claim "TYRES FROM ONLY £19.99" was misleading and could be substantiated, because when he clicked the link provided he was unable to find any tyres for that price.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
AMS Tyres & Autocentre (AMS) responded by phone. They said some tyres were available at the advertised "from" price for people who called for a quote. They did not provide a written response.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that AMS maintained that some tyres were available for £19.99 when consumers called to enquire. However, we had not received any evidence in support of that claim, which we considered would be necessary to demonstrate a reasonable level of availability of that price. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.17 and 3.22 (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told AMS not to advertise "from" prices unless they were able to provide evidence to demonstrate a reasonable level of availability at those prices. We also told them to ensure the route by which the advertised prices were available was made clear to consumers.
