Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.Ad description
Claims on the website www.ukmotorolaphonerepairs.co.uk seen on 22 February 2019, included the text “Motorola Screen Repairs … We are specialised in Motorola phones screen repairs in the UK … At our Motorola repair centre, we have expertise in the fixing all the issues associated with Motorola phones … We use only high quality genuine repair parts and screens to replace the defective parts in your Motorola phone”.Issue
The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:
1. “At our Motorola repair centre, we have expertise in the fixing all the issues associated with Motorola phones”; and
2. “We use only high quality genuine repair parts”.Response
Elite Phones and Computers Ltd t/a www.ukmotorolarepairs.co.uk did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.Assessment
The ASA was concerned at Elite Phones and Computers Ltd’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a response to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
1.Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand the claim “At our Motorola repair centre” to mean that they were affiliated with Motorola as an official repair centre for Motorola products. We also considered that the website URL http://www.ukmotorolarepairs.co.uk/ also contributed to that impression. However, we had seen no evidence to show that Elite Phones and Computers were officially affiliated with Motorola and therefore concluded that the claim was misleading and breached the Code.
On this point the claim breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).
2. Upheld
We considered that the claim “We only use high quality genuine repair parts” would be interpreted by consumers to mean that Elite Phones and Computers would always use genuine manufacturers’ parts when repairing Motorola mobile phones and computers. However, they did not provide any documentary evidence demonstrating that this was the case. We therefore concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading.
On this point the claim breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Elite Phones and Computers Ltd not to state or imply that they were officially affiliated with Motorola and not to state that they used genuine repair parts unless that was the case and was supported with documentary evidence.
The matter was referred to CAP’s Compliance Team.
