ASA Adjudication on ecigsbrand.com
ecigsbrand.com t/a
e-cigs
9330 LBJ Freeway
Suite #900
Dallas TX
75243
Date:
17 October 2012
Media:
Internet (on own site)
Sector:
Retail
Number of complaints:
2
Complaint Ref:
A12-200521
Ad
A website, www.ecigsbrand.com, stated, "Claim Your Exclusive E-Cig Starter Kit ... ACT NOW, SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED!".
Issue
A complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading, because it did not make clear that consumers would incur charges if they did not cancel within 15 days.
CAP Code (Edition 12)
Response
Ecigsbrand (e-cigs) said they took several steps to ensure customers were aware of the ongoing financial commitment unless they cancelled within 15 days. This was disclosed before the customer entered payment details, after purchase was confirmed, in a welcome e-mail, which included a UK customer service telephone number; the package slip also included this information. Additionally, within the package a brochure and membership card stated the ongoing membership and if a customer missed this information, they offered a no hassle refund.
The advertiser also said that most customers understood that a premium electronic device and the accessories which were sold in a high quality, custom designed hard case box, could not be manufactured, shipped to them and supported with warranty for the trial price, and so customers would have assumed an ongoing element of the purchase.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that e-cigs took various steps to ensure the ongoing customer commitment was clear and the home page of the promotion was amended to include a check box with the text "I agree to the full terms, conditions, and privacy policy of this offer". However, we asked the advertiser on several occasions to ensure the ongoing commitment was clearly stated on the offer home page and not on subsequent pages. We also noted the commitment displayed before payment was confirmed was grey text on a black background which might not have been sufficiently prominent to avoid being overlooked by consumers. We disagreed with e-cigs' argument that consumers would assume an ongoing financial commitment in a promotion for a premium product.
We concluded that, because the promotion home page omitted significant information that made it clear additional charges would be incurred if consumers did not cancel, the promotion was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1, 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.17 (Prices), 3.23 (Free) and 8.17.1 (Significant conditions for promotions).
Action
The ad must not appear in its current form. We told e-cigs to ensure significant financial commitments were clearly stated in their promotions.
