Ad description
A website for Planet Computers, store.planetcom.co.uk, an online phone and computer retailer, seen on 23 August 2023, advertised the Astro Slide 5G smartphone for £819.00. Text stated “NEW – JUST LAUNCHED! PRE-ORDER NOW TO SECURE YOUR PLACE IN THE ORDER LIST!” and “… PRE-ORDER – STOCK EXP. AUG ‘23”.
Issue
The complainant, who maintained that there was no available stock and understood there was therefore no estimate for when the stock was expected, challenged whether the claim that stock would arrive in August 2023 was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Planet Computers Ltd (Planet Computers) said they had published the dates that had been given to them, but they had had issues with the supplier and had experienced delays. They were willing to amend the date by which supplies were expected to January 2024 and were confident that they would receive supplies of the product by then.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA considered consumers would understand from the ad that they could pre-order the Astro Slide 5G smartphone and that stocks were expected in August 2023, so customers would receive the device at that time.
We acknowledged that Planet Computers said they had experienced delays with the supply of the product and we welcomed their proposal to change the expected date to one they were confident they could honour. However, we were aware of a blog entry Planet Computers had published online which referred to delays and other issues with manufacture and supply of the product dating from 2020 to the present day. Planet Computers had supplied no evidence that showed they could provide the product by the month they proposed - January 2024 - or any other date. We concluded, therefore, that the claim that stock of the Astro Slide 5G smartphone would arrive in August 2023 was misleading and had not been substantiated.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.29 (Availability).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Planet Computers Ltd not to advertise products that were not available and not to claim that stock of a product was expected by a particular date unless they held adequate substantiation for the claim.
