Ebuyer rapped by the ASA
Company made misleading savings claims and failed to respond to the watchdog
Ebuyer has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The retailer was taken to task after a customer complained that some of the promoted savings in emails and online were misleading.
The complainant referenced a claim on the website in July, which stated “£119.99 inc. vat … Save £34.99” and “£154.98” which was crossed out.
Two days later another claim online stated “£112.99 inc. vat … Save £41.99” and “£154.98”, which was crossed out.
The e-mail included text which stated “£112.99 … “. The text “£154.98” was crossed out and further text stated “Save £42”.
The complainant said these claims could not substantiated, because he did not believe that the product had been recently available for £154.98.
Ebuyer did not provide a written response to the complaint, which “concerned” the ASA. It said this also showed an “apparent disregard” for the code.
It also noted that it had not seen evidence to demonstrate that the ‘was’ price of £154.98 was a genuine previous selling price and that the advertised savings of £34.99, £41.99 and £42 were therefore genuine. In the absence of such evidence, it concluded that the savings claims were misleading.
Ebuyer has been ordered to ensure that the ads must not appear again in their current form.