ARGOS ADVERTISED ITEMS on its Irish website for ‘less than half price’, although the items were not actually available in Ireland.
The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland, ASAI, ruled that the advert was misleading after a complaint was made by a customer who noticed the items were constantly out of stock.
Argos were offering the following items at half price:
The complainant said she tried to purchase the PC trolley on many occasions over a three week period and each time the item was out of stock in every Irish store.
She then uncovered that the item she wanted had never been in stock in Irish stores.
Argos admitted that it had stopped offering all the products mentioned at the end of January and so the information was out of date.
“All of the items had been removed from their UK website but it appeared to be the case that they had not been removed from their Irish website and therefore their Irish customers were receiving old out of date information.”
The ASAI ruled on complaints in respect of 12 advertisements yesterday, finding eight of them were in breach of its code relating to principles, promotional marketing, misleading and decency and propriety.
Newstalk got a slap in the write for its use of the word ‘bullshitters’ on an outdoor billboard, while Three, Vodafone and Eir were taken to task about advertising around their various online packages.
A direct email from Paddy Power with the headline: “Clobbering 50% Cashback” was also subject to a complaint. Upheld by the ASAI, the complainant queried how the advertisers could claim to give ‘50% back on losses’ in the main heading of their advertisement, while stating in the fine print that if customers wagered £/€6,500 they received £/€50 back and likewise if they wagered £/€1,500 they still received £/€50 back.
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