Ad description
The website bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk, seen on 17 July 2017, contained various positive statements about the company and its services. A section headed "Our Testimonials" showed the Trustpilot Five Star and Google Reviews logos.
Issue
The complainant, who believed bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk had been given only two stars on the Trustpilot website and that no Google reviews existed for them, challenged whether the use of the logos was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Cleano Ltd t/a bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk said they believed they were within their rights to use the Trustpilot and Google Reviews third-party logos in their ad. They maintained that thousands of customers had used their services and were satisfied.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered consumers were likely to interpret the ad to mean that the reviews of bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk on Trustpilot had five stars and that there were positive reviews on Google Reviews. However, bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk had supplied no evidence to show that was the case. We noted that the overall rating on Trustpilot stated two stars; that the most recent reviews on Trustpilot showed one star and that there were no reviews of bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk on Google Reviews.
We therefore concluded that the claims made or implied by the logos about the reviews of bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk had not been substantiated and that the use of the logos was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising), 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation) and 3.45 3.45 Marketers must hold documentary evidence that a testimonial or endorsement used in a marketing communication is genuine, unless it is obviously fictitious, and hold contact details for the person who, or organisation that, gives it. (Endorsements and testimonials).
Action
The logos must not appear again in the form complained of. We told bestendoftenancycleaning.co.uk not to make or imply claims about high levels of customer satisfaction, such as by using the Trustpilot Five Star and Google Reviews logos, unless they held adequate evidence.
