Ad description
A website for Pink Storage, www.pinkstorage.co.uk, was seen on 27 January 2024. A web page headed “YOUR QUOTE” included text that stated “Get 50% off your storage for up to 8 weeks” and included quotes for a 160 square foot storage unit. There was qualifying text further down the page that stated “The prices you see above are the prices you pay, No Hidden Fees”.
Issue
The complainant, who was informed that the weekly price of their storage unit had been increased, challenged whether the claim “The prices you see above are the prices you pay, No Hidden Fees” was misleading.
Response
Pink Self Storage Ltd t/a Pink Storage said that they quoted for one week and that was the price consumers paid for the one week. As per their terms and conditions they held the right to increase prices. They could not hold their rates indefinitely and checked their prices against competitors often, to ensure they were competitive. They said that, although the claim was factually correct, they had removed the claim.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered that consumers would understand the claim “The prices you see above are the prices you pay, No Hidden Fees” to mean that the price quoted would be the price that they would pay for the duration of the time they were using the storage unit, and that there would be nothing additional to pay.
We understood that Pink Storage had an introductory offer whereby consumers would save 50% on the first 8 weeks, after which point, the weekly price would revert to the full price referenced in the quote. The complainant had been quoted a weekly price of £10 for the first eight weeks which would then increase to £20 a week. Whilst they had paid the reduced price as quoted during the 8-week introductory period and the full, quoted price for 6 weeks thereafter, they were then informed that the weekly price would be increased to £40, and then further to £60. Furthermore, when they were informed of the price increases, the price stated on the website for the same storage unit at the same location was £30 per week.
Pink Storage’s terms and conditions stated that they may alter their fees at any time by giving the customer written notice and that the new fees would take effect on the next billing cycle. However, notwithstanding that there was nothing in the ad itself explaining that they may alter their fees at any time. We considered that this information was insufficient to counter the impression given by the claim.Therefore, because the price consumers paid could be increased from what they were quoted, we concluded that the claim “The prices you see above are the prices you pay, No Hidden Fees” was misleading.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.9, 3.10 (Qualification), 3.17 (Prices).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Pink Self Storage Ltd t/a Pink Storage not to claim that their quoted prices were the prices that consumers would pay and that there were no hidden fees if consumers had to pay more than they were quoted.
