Advertisment
The advertisement was a product listing for the Kamado Joe Classic III Barbecue on the advertisers’ website as part of their ‘Warehouse Clearance’ sale. The sale price was listed as €2,139.00 while the price of €4,379.00 was crossed out to reflect the previous higher price.
Complaint
The complainant considered the advertisement misleading as they did not believe that the product had ever been sold at the advertised price of €4,379.00.
Response
The advertisers apologised and said they were committed to cooperating with the ASAI and adhering to its guidelines. They claimed that an investigation found their external IT team had received unclear instructions regarding discounting the price of the Kamado Joe III. These unclear instructions they said led to the incorrect sale price displayed on their website.
The advertisers said that the complaint had prompted them to review their internal procedures to ensure that such an error does not occur in future and a pricing guide has now been created for the IT team to follow. They confirmed they had amended the entry for the Kamado Joe Classic III Barbecue and that it had been relisted at
€1,989.00 without a claim that this was a reduced price.
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld
The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.
The Committee noted that the discounted ‘sale’ price was due to an error, and welcomed that the listing had been amended. However, no information had been provided as to whether the product advertised had been on sale at the higher ‘before’ price, The Committee noted the requirements of the Code regarding the substantiation of claims made and in the absence of substantiation that the product had been offered for sale previously at the advertised price of €4,379.00, the Committee considered that the advertisement was likely to mislead consumers and was in breach of Code Sections 4.01, 4.04, 4.09 and 4.10.
Action Required:
As the advertisement had been amended, no further action was required. However, the Complaints Committee advised that care be taken in future to ensure that correct information regarding previous pricing is displayed in conjunction with a sale price, and that evidence is held to support any previous price claims.
