Advertisment
The advertiser’s website referred to the following
“ALL NUMBER PLATES ARE RIGOROUSLY QUALITY TESTED AND COME WITH A 1 YEAR NO QUIBBLE GUARANTEE
• Tested in water to ensure plates are fully sealed and water tight.
• Impact and shatter tested to ensure plates do not break up.
• Air tested to ensure plates can withstand high wind velocities
that happen at high speed.
• UV tested to ensure plates do not discolour or damage due to
the suns strong UV rays.
• Reflective is tested to ensure that all plates are fully scratch resistant.
• Fault tested to ensure that the plates are crystal clear and have no imperfections.
• Measurements are checked to ensure plates are fully central and distances
are within a few millimetres.
• Safety tested to ensure all plates meet all the safety standards and requirements.
Every number plate we sell will have our special quality control sticker on the rear of the plate, which guarantees that the plate has been fully quality tested and approved by our quality control team.”
Complaint
The complainant said that when he received his number plates they were scratched. He considered the scratches to be imperfections and asked the advertisers to replace them. He was informed by the advertisers that they would not accept the plates back or issue a replacement as it was company policy not to accept a return or issue a replacement on any faulty or self-damaged goods. The complainant considered this to be contradictory to the information provided on the advertisers’ website.
Response
The advertisers said that had the number plates been damaged in the post they would have issued a replacement to the complainant. They considered, however, that the complainant had damaged the goods on receipt and therefore they did not warrant replacement under their 12 month guarantee.
The advertisers did not explain the grounds on which they considered the complainant had damaged the plates.
Conclusion
Complaint Upheld.
The Complaints Committee considered the details of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee considered that the advertisers had not substantiated the claim in relation to their “1 Year no quibble guarantee” and in the circumstances upheld the complaint under Section 2.9 of the Code.
Action Required:
In the absence of substantiation for the claim “1 Year no quibble guarantee” the advertisement should not appear in the same format again.
