Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
(a) A page on the Just Eat website, seen in May 2024 stated, “Get a £12 voucher. Order between 18th April – 1st May and get your £12 voucher”. Further text stated, “It’s simple to enter: Receive your voucher: Receive your £12 voucher via email within 24-48 hours from your order. Redeem your £12 voucher on your next order in the Just Eat app by 9th May 2024. Minimum order value of £20. Valid first come first serve for up to 33,000 orders. T&Cs apply”.
(b) An email for Just Eat dated 28 May 2024 included the subject line, “…make the most of Tuesday”. Text in the body of the email said, “Feeling cheeky yet? On Tuesdays you get 20%* off. Juicy tacos, cheesy pizzas, creamy milkshakes, this list could go on… With so many choices just a tap away, it’s easy to get carried away. And why not? Go on, get your faves with a cheeky side of 20%* off ”. An “ORDER NOW” button linked to the Just Eat website.
Qualifying text at the bottom of the email said, “*Selected restaurants only. £15 minimum spend applies. Go to just-eat.co.uk for more details”.
Issue
1. The complainant, who believed they had qualified for the offer in ad (a), but was unclear why they had initially been unable to access it, challenged the presentation of the promotion.
2. The complainant, who had been unable to access the offer in ad (b), challenged whether the promotion had caused unnecessary disappointment.
Response
1. Just Eat.co.uk t/a Just Eat said it was never their intention to mislead consumers and on identification of the complaint, they had taken steps to resolve the matter.
The promotion was originally run from 18 April to 1 May 2024, allowing the customer to claim a £12 voucher to be redeemed against their next order no later than 9 May 2024. As stated in the promotional terms, the offer was valid on a “first come first served for up to 33,000 orders” basis. At the end of the initial campaign period, their records showed that a significant number of the vouchers remained unclaimed.They confirmed the complainant did receive the voucher on 15 May, but it had been delayed. The reason for the delay was because the minimum order value of £20, as set out in the terms, was initially calculated based only on the value of food orders and did not include any service charges or delivery fees. Once that was spotted, they updated the calculation and subsequently contacted all impacted customers by email with a voucher.
They said they would ensure future promotions clearly set out the components of the minimum order value.
2. Just Eat said the restaurant in question was not a named restaurant in the promotion communications.
They said a technical issue resulted in the “Order Now” button within the 28 May 2024 Cheeky Tuesday promotion communications linking through to a landing page on Just Eat’s website that included a variety of offers, including, but not limited to, Cheeky Tuesday offers, instead of taking the customer to the usual “Cheeky Tuesday” promotion landing page (which included only restaurants opted-in to Cheeky Tuesday on the relevant date). That technical issue was fixed prior to the 4 June 2024 Cheeky Tuesday promotion communications.
The complainant’s order journey within the Just Eat platform on 28 May 2024 would have communicated which offer(s) the restaurant was running and would apply to their order. That meant there would have been no reference to the Cheeky Tuesday offer throughout the order journey and in relation to the restaurant. While the complainant’s order on 28 May 2024 did not benefit from the Cheeky Tuesday offer, the complainant did receive a separate (free item) offer, worth £5.
They acknowledged that the marketing email sent to the complainant included a link, which may have resulted in confusion as to how to navigate to restaurants that had opted-in to the Cheeky Tuesday offer once the complainant landed on their website.
Assessment
1.Upheld
The CAP Code stated that all marketing communications or other material referring to promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such conditions or information was likely to mislead. Significant conditions or information may, depending on the circumstances, include how to participate, including significant conditions and costs, and other major factors reasonably likely to influence consumer's decision or understanding about the promotion.
The ASA understood that the limit of 33,000 vouchers had not been reached and that the offer was still available at the time the complainant attempted to redeem it. Notwithstanding, we noted that the ad stated, “Redeem your £12 voucher on your next order in the Just Eat app by 9th May 2024. Minimum order value of £20 …”. We considered consumers were likely to understand therefore that to redeem the £12 voucher, they would have to spend a minimum of £20 in total.
However, the complainant had not received the voucher because the minimum order value of £20 was based only on the cost of the food order, and any service charges or delivery fees were excluded. That condition, which we considered to be significant, was not made clear in the ad and we therefore concluded that the promotion breached the Code.
On that point, ad (a) breached CAP Code Edition 12 rules 8.17 and 8.17.1 (Promotional Marketing).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated promoters must conduct their promotions equitably, promptly and efficiently and be seen to deal fairly and honourably with participants and potential participants. Promoters must avoid causing unnecessary disappointment.The ad stated, “Feeling cheeky yet? On Tuesdays you get 20%* off” and further text stated, “*Selected restaurants only”.We acknowledged that the restaurant in question was not part of the Cheeky Tuesday offer and understood it was not listed as being part of the Cheeky Tuesday offer on the Just Eat website. However, the ad included a link, via the “ORDER NOW” button, which directed the complainant to a landing page that we understood contained a number of offers, including the Cheeky Tuesday promotion. We considered consumers were therefore likely to understand that the Cheeky Tuesday offer featured would apply to the restaurants accessed from that page, including the one the complainant placed an order with. However, the promotion was not available with that restaurant.
Because the ad contained a link that directed consumers to restaurants that were not part of the Cheeky Tuesday offer, we concluded that the promotion was likely to have caused participants unnecessary disappointment. We therefore concluded that it breached the Code.
On that point, ad (b) breached CAP Code Edition 12 rule 8.2 (Promotional Marketing).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Just Eat.co.uk t/a Just Eat to ensure their future promotions included all significant conditions and to avoid causing unnecessary disappointment to participants.
