Background
Summary of Council decision:
Seven issues were investigated of which three were Upheld and four were Not upheld.
Ad description
A holiday property in Croatia, Villa Gradi, was advertised on www.villarenters.com (Villarenters). The web page showed photographs of the property from the sea, its terrace and swimming pool. Text stated "For centuries the leasure [sic] life of Dubrovnik nobility took place in summer residences of Rijeka Dubrovacka, situated close to the sea, in beautiful surroundings ... The house of Gradi ... was one of the oldest and one of the most recognized [sic] ... Today, with its modern facilities, it offers a complete leasure [sic] experience to a family and their friends with its magical grounds, open and covered terraces, picturesque gardens ... This villa offers accommodation to 11 guests in five bedrooms en suite with bath, living room, original kitchen and dining, summer kitchen and grill, large gloriet, several open terraces, cultivated gardens and parking place. External stairs lead up to the swimming pool and jacuzzi. Concrete beach and private mooring place is in front of the house. There is a a [sic] road between our property and the beach ... Swimming pools - Private swimming pool; Air-conditioning - Air-conditioning; Kitchen - Cooker - Oven - Microwave - Fridge - Freezer - Kettle - Toaster - Dish washer [sic] - Washing machine - Iron - Cutlery - Crockery - Glassware - Cooking utensils .. Bathrooms - 5 bathroom(s) - 6 WC(s) ... Outside - Some noise - Private swimming pool - Garden - Summer house - Patio area - Balcony - View of the sea - Panoramic views - Barbeque [sic]- Private parking - Garage ..."
Issue
A complainant, who had rented the property, challenged whether the ad was misleading and whether a number of the claims could be substantiated, because:
1. although the photograph showed a whole villa, the whole upper floor and most of the ground floor was not accessible;
2. air conditioning was not available in most rooms;
3. private parking was not available;
4. a garage was not available; and
5. only one bathroom had a bath (the rest were shower rooms).
She also challenged whether:
6. the ad was misleading by omission because the kitchen had no running hot water; and
7. the photograph of the property was misleading, because it was taken before a busy road, which separated the property from the beach, was built.
Response
1. Villa Gradi said the property accommodated up to 12 people in up to five bedrooms which were each 20 square metres in size and an additional room that could be used if needed. They said the property had a very large living room (30 square metres) and a very large kitchen (25 square metres) which also functioned as a dining room.
Villarenters said their website enabled property owners to advertise and offered online payment facilities and a money back guarantee. They said those using the website to make a booking made a contract direct with the property owner and that the property owner was in control of the text and images that appeared on the website. They supplied a copy of the agreement Villarenters issued to property owners which listed the obligations of the property owner. Villarenters said the accommodation comprised the whole of the villa apart from some locked storage areas on the ground floor which were used to store cleaning equipment and chemicals for the swimming pool.
2. Villa Gradi said there was built-in air conditioning in the rooms on the first floor. They supplied photographs of five built-in air conditioning units. They said the ground floor rooms had natural ventilation but that they had a portable air conditioning unit – a photograph of which they supplied – which they could offer to guests if desired.
Villarenters said the ad did not specify which rooms had air conditioning. They said all rooms had air conditioning except for the Piano Room, which had walls 50 cm thick and which therefore did not need air conditioning. They supplied a photograph of that room. Of the other rooms, they said two had portable air conditioning units because heritage restrictions prevented built-in air conditioning units being fitted, but that all other rooms had built-in air conditioning.
3. Villa Gradi said there was space beside the villa for 12 cars. They supplied photographs of the road-side space beside the villa where cars could be parked.
Villarenters said the parking bay on the road next to the villa was for exclusive use by the villa.
4. Villa Gradi said there was a garage for a normal family car. They supplied photographs of the garage.
Villarenters said the garage could fit up to two cars but could not accommodate vans or people carriers because of their height.
5. Villa Gradi said the villa had one bathroom and four shower rooms but that the website did not allow for bathrooms and shower rooms to be listed separately.
Villarenters said they would make adjustments to the website to add functionality.
6. Villa Gradi said the absence of running hot water in the kitchen was an omission which they had since rectified.
Villarenters supplied photographs of the property's kitchen. They said that, because it was a sixteenth-century property under heritage protection, the owner was unable to lay plumbing to provide hot running water in the kitchen but that there was a kettle and stove there to boil water for cooking.
7. Villa Gradi said the road in front of the property had been built in 1960 and could be seen in the photograph used in the ad.
Villarenters said text in the ad stated "there is a road between our property and the beach". They believed the road was clearly shown on the photograph used in the ad, together with crash barriers and vehicles. They supplied a larger version of the photograph.
Villarenters said that they had suspended the advertising from their website and had asked the owner to amend the text before they would remove the suspension.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The account given to the ASA by the complainant differed from the response we had received from Villa Gradi and Villarenters. The photograph of the property on the website appeared to show accommodation on at least three levels and there was nothing in the text that suggested that the accommodation allotted to guests was restricted. Neither Villa Gradi nor Villarenters had supplied documentation (in the form of a contract or inventory, for instance) or other evidence which set out formally the accommodation that was allotted to guests. Because we had not seen conclusive evidence that the accommodation allotted to guests extended to all or most of the property, we concluded that the ad was misleading.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
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).
2. Not upheld
Although neither Villa Gradi nor Villarenters had supplied documentation (in the form of a contract or inventory, for instance) which listed air conditioning units in the rooms that were allotted to guests, the photographs Villa Gradi had supplied showed that five different rooms had built-in air conditioning units and that a portable unit was also available. Because of that, we concluded that Villa Gradi had substantiated the claim.
On this point we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
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) but did not find it in breach.
3. Upheld
We considered that the photographs Villa Gradi had supplied showed that it was possible to park off the road outside the villa and alongside the concrete beach opposite. However, we had not seen documentation that showed those areas were for the exclusive use of the property. Because of that, we concluded that Villa Gradi had not substantiated the claim and that it was misleading.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
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).
4. Not upheld
We accepted that some guests might be disappointed that a larger vehicle could not be accommodated but considered that the photographs Villa Gradi had supplied showed that a garage, capable of accommodating a normal family car, came with the property. Because of that, we concluded that Villa Gradi had substantiated the claim.
On this point we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
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) but did not find it in breach.
5. Not upheld
We welcomed Villarenters' pledge to make adjustments to the website to add functionality. However, we considered readers were likely to view the term "bathroom" as generic and that the ad was unlikely to mislead if they were shower rooms. Because of that, we concluded that the claim was not misleading.
On this point we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
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) but did not find it in breach.
6. Upheld
We welcomed Villa Gradi's statement that they had rectified the absence of hot running water in the kitchen. Nonetheless, we considered the list of kitchen equipment and facilities in the ad suggested that the kitchen was comprehensively equipped and sufficient for a property of this size and cost. In that context, we considered hot running water was a reasonable expectation. Because it had not been available at the time of the ad, but the ad did not explain that, we concluded that the ad had been misleading by omission.
On this point the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
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).
7. Not upheld
We considered that the photograph used in the ad appeared to be current; that it was possible to see vehicles and a crash barrier and that it was in line with the photographs supplied to us by Villa Gradi. The ad also stated that there was a road between the property and the beach. We concluded that, regardless of the actual age of the photograph, it was unlikely to mislead.
On this point we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
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) but did not find it in breach.
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We welcomed the changes Villarenters said they would make to their website and the action Villa Gradi had taken to rectify the absence of running hot water in the kitchen.
