Ad description
A website, two emails and a leaflet for High Seat Ltd, a furniture retailer:
a. The website, www.hslchairs.com/, seen in October 2024, was headed, “Comfort in Time for Christmas”. Text underneath stated, “Order by 13th November to guarantee delivery before the big day. T&C’s apply”. A Terms and Conditions page stated “[…] Christmas cut off dates may vary by product and are subject to change, please ask in-store for details”.
b. The first email, dated 31 October 2024 stated, “Comfort in time for Christmas […] Order by 13th November *T&Cs apply”. This was followed by “Don’t miss your chance to get comfort in time for Christmas […] You have until 13th November to guarantee delivery before the big day”. The asterisk linked to small print at the bottom of the email that stated, “[…] Christmas cut-off dates may vary by product and are subject to change, please ask in-store for details”.
c. The second email, dated 3 November 2024, featured text at the top stating, “Just 10 days left to get guaranteed Christmas delivery”. It contained the same text as ad (b) regarding delivery.
d. The leaflet, seen in October 2024, featured text stating, “Comfort in time for Christmas […] Save up to 25%* Ends 13th November Order now for guaranteed Christmas delivery […] Order before November 13th for free delivery and assembly in time for Christmas”. The asterisk linked to small print at the bottom of the leaflet which stated “[…] Christmas cut-off dates may vary by product and are subject to change, please ask in-store for details”.
Issue
The complainant, who placed an order on 2 November 2024 and was told their item would not be delivered until February or March 2025, challenged whether the claims of guaranteed delivery by Christmas were misleading.Response
High Seat Ltd said that their T&Cs were consistent and present in all ads, across all media. The T&Cs stated that the cut-off dates for delivery before Christmas varied by product and were subject to change. Customers were invited to ask in store for details, thereby establishing if the product they wanted was available in time for Christmas. Stores were regularly updated on products and fabrics no longer available for Christmas delivery, including via a weekly bulletin to all retail staff, as customers could only purchase items via a store. High Seat said that was largely because fabric availability changed in light of demand.
High Seat said that the ad campaign had finished on 13 November 2024 but that they would ensure that their marketing team was made aware of the complaint and would continue to make T&Cs clear in their advertising.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code required that all marketing communications must state significant limitations and qualifications. The Code also required qualifications to be presented clearly.
The ASA considered that the claims in the ads “Comfort in Time for Christmas”, “Order by 13th November to guarantee delivery before the big day”, “Don’t miss your chance to get comfort in time for Christmas”, “Just 10 days left to get guaranteed Christmas delivery” and “Order before November 13th for free delivery and assembly in time for Christmas” would be interpreted by consumers to mean if they ordered before 13 November, they were guaranteed delivery of their item before Christmas. We considered that those claims were prominent and the primary focus of the ads. We further considered that the availability of certain products and fabrics for delivery in time for Christmas was likely to be a significant factor in deciding whether and when to make a purchase. The fact that certain products were excluded from the guaranteed delivery by Christmas offer was significant information which would affect consumers’ understanding of the claims.
We acknowledged that the ads included qualifying text regarding delivery times which explained that Christmas cut-off dates varied by product, were subject to change and that consumers should check in-store. The ads included, alongside the Christmas delivery claims, text stating “T&Cs apply”. Ad (a), the website, did not include an asterisk next to “T&Cs” and therefore consumers were required to search for that information on the website. It was located on another webpage headed “Sale”. Ads (b), (c) and (d) did contain asterisks next to “T&Cs” which linked to the small print at the bottom of the emails and leaflet respectively. Consumers were therefore required to scroll down to the bottom of the emails and to the bottom of page 4 of the leaflet to find that information.
We considered that the qualifying information was not sufficiently prominent in ads (a)–(d) for consumers to be able to understand that not all items qualified for guaranteed delivery before Christmas. We therefore concluded that the claims of guaranteed delivery before Christmas in the ads were misleading.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.9 and 3.10 (Qualification).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told High Seat Ltd to ensure that their future marketing communications included all significant limitations and qualifications clearly and in a prominent place.
