Advertisment
The eir Mobile website advertised the various plans that were available to order. Included in the list of phones was four phones with the headline:
“Phones We Recommend
Apple iPhone 6 32Gb – FREE
Samsung Galaxy S7 – FREE
Samsung Galaxy S8 – €99
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus – €199”
Complaint
The complainant signed up to an eir Mobile bill pay plan and chose the Samsung S8 Plus as his phone. He received a confirmation email for his order and advised that delivery would take up to three days. After waiting four days for the phone to arrive, he telephoned eir and was advised that the phone was out of stock and had been out of stock for some time. The complainant made further enquiries with eir’s webchat facility who advised him that the phone was in stock, contradicting the information received by telephone, however, he again telephoned eir and was again advised that the phone was out of stock. In the circumstances the complainant considered that the online advertising was misleading as the phone was not marked as being ‘out of stock’.
Response
While acknowledging receipt of the complaint, the advertisers failed to provide a response to the complaint.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
The Executive viewed the advertisers’ website and noted that various other phones were also listed. This listing including a phone that was clearly marked “Out of Stock” and with related text which read “get notified when back in stock”. No other phones on the website listing were marked as ‘out of stock’.
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint. The Complaints Committee, while noting that the advertiser had acknowledged the complaint, expressed concern at their failure to respond to the complaint. They reminded them that there is an onus on advertisers to ensure that their advertising is in conformity with the Code.
In the absence of a response from eir the Committee concluded that the advertisement was in breach of Code sections 3.10, 4.1, 4.4, 4.27, 4.28 (a), (b) and 4.29.
ACTION REQUIRED:
The advertisement must not reappear in its current form. The Committee told eir to ensure that stock levels on their website were accurate.
