Ad description
A website www.lensway.co.uk for glasses and contact lenses. Scrolling text at the top of each web page stated "FREE DELIVERY AND EASY FREE RETURNS". Text on the page titled ' PureVision Multifocal' stated "PureVision Multifocal 6 lenses per box £54.89 Sale price per box. Was £59.99."
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the prices quoted in the ad were misleading because additional compulsory charges for handling and insurance were applied during the ordering process.
Response
LensWay Inc. explained that the cost of the handling and insurance charges was not the same for all orders as this charge differed depending on the size of the product.
LensWay did not agree with the complainant that the ad was misleading. They believed that purchasing glasses online was a more complicated process than purchasing many other items online. They said that in most cases, the total price of glasses would not be the same as originally quoted for the frames as there would typically be other costs depending on prescription level, thinness of the lenses, coatings and other factors. They believed that the handling and insurance charge was irrelevant in this instance.
LensWay proposed a number of changes that they would undertake, for example, by including "Handling and Insurance charges may apply" on the page titled ‘Cart Details’ during the order process or include a specific term within the terms and conditions.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that the ad contained information relating to priority shipping charges but did not indicate that handling and insurance charge would be payable. We noted that a consumer wishing to purchase from the website would not be made aware of the charge until the third and last page of the ordering process, after they were required to accept the advertiser's terms and conditions on the preceding page.
We considered that the application of handling and insurance charges was material information, along with costs relating to other factors such as prescription levels, types of lenses and delivery, that consumers would require in order to make an informed decision about whether or not to purchase from the advertiser. Given that the handling and insurance charges were non-optional, we considered that the ad should have prominently stated that this compulsory charge was payable and contained information on how the charge would be calculated.
We did not consider LensWays' proposed changes to be sufficient, as we noted that consumers would still not be made aware of the compulsory charge when viewing the ad. We considered that, in the absence of a prominent qualification specifying that handling and insurance charges would be payable and how this charge would be calculated, consumers were likely to expect to pay the prices quoted in the ad, including delivery costs if they opted for priority shipping. On the basis, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ad was investigated under 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.
3.4.3
3.4.3
the price of the advertised product, including taxes, or, if the nature of the product is such that the price cannot be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated
(Misleading Advertising),
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.
and
3.19
3.19
If a tax, duty, fee or charge cannot be calculated in advance, for example, because it depends on the consumer's circumstances, the marketing communication must make clear that it is excluded from the advertised price and state how it is calculated.
(Prices) and was found to be in breach.
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told LensWay Inc. to ensure that future ads must make clear that the compulsory handling and insurance charge was excluded from the advertised prices and include information about how this charge would be calculated.
