Business (Office Furniture)

The company’s website featuring images of office chairs referred to to the following:

“CHARLES E. LOBBY CHAIR ES 105
Availability:
Standard delivery time
Highstreet Price: £550
Regular Price: £292
Special Price with Discount: £146

The above information was accompanied by a countdown clock and referred to the fact that there was “UP TO 70% OFF” for a limited time, as indicated on the clock.

The complainant considered the advertising to be misleading. He said that the high street price displayed was somewhat close to the price for the genuine version of the product. He queried, however, whether the product was a genuine Charles Eames furniture designer product as the designer’s name had been abbreviated.

The complainant also considered the information displayed on the countdown clock to be misleading. When he initially saw the offer he said there was two hours remaining on the clock to make his purchase, yet the following day, the offer was still available and the countdown clock was still running.

The advertisers did not respond to the complaint.

Complaint Upheld

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and expressed their concern at the advertisers’ 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 the advertisers, the Committee concluded that the advertisement was in breach of Code sections 3.10, 4.1, 4.4, 4.9 and 4.10 of the Code.

ACTION REQUIRED: The advertisement should not reappear in its current form.