Alarm bells sound over Phonewatch ad... and a car draw with no car!

PHONEWATCH has been told to stop saying its alarms make you ‘Four times more secure! And your loved ones safer, four times safer!’ after complaints about the claim.

One complainant said the ad was ‘misleading’ as the claim of ‘four times safer’ was pitched with no supporting evidence provided to back up its claim.

Another complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland ‘considered it incorrect’ to say that your risk of being burgled was

‘Ad did not give a breakdown’

reduced fourfold.

The radio ad, which ran last year, claimed: ‘Installing a Phonewatch alarm for only €49 makes your home four times less likely to be burgled.’

Phonewatch quoted CSO burglary figures from last March to show homes with alarms suffered four times fewer break-ins.

But the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) committee noted that the CSO data from March last year used to make the claim did not provide a breakdown between premises that were alarmed or not.

Upholding the complaint, the ASAI said the committee ‘considered that the claim was unqualified, implying that the safety level was the same without any distinction between geographic location, such as city, urban or rural and associated burglary incidence levels and risks’.

Phonewatch was contacted for comment.

There were four complaints about a discount promotion at Emerald Park that was no longer available.

The ad for the theme park, formerly Tayto Park, in Kilbrew, Co. Meath, appeared on social media offering a 24% discount on entry over a period of several weeks with the code ‘TREASURE24’.

At current prices, a regular ticket costs €52, so with the discount it would be €39.52.

Four complainants tried to use the code but were told it was no longer available. One said they were told by a staff member it had finished about halfway through the ad campaign.

Emerald Park told the ASAI it did not intend to mislead or confuse consumers and pointed out that their terms and conditions meant: ‘Promotion codes are only valid on specific products, while stocks last and may be withdrawn at any time. We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time.’

Emerald Park was contacted for comment.

A credit union advertised on its website a car draw promotion when in fact the prize was cash and there was no car to be won.

The complaint against Castleblaney Credit Union Limited was upheld. In its defence it told the ASAI the ‘car draw prize provided funds towards the cost of a new car’. ‘They said the application form referred to the fact that per application form “Each winner will receive €16,000 towards the purchase of a new car”.’

The credit union was contacted for comment.

There were 33 complaints, mostly from taxi drivers, about bus and online ads for drivers to ‘earn up to €1,300 per week’ with Free Now which many claimed was ‘not achievable’.

The ASAI said: ‘The common thread running through the complaints was that the earning potential referenced in the advertising was misleading.’

The ASAI committee told Free Now ‘the advertising should not appear in the same format again’.

However, there was a similar ad on its site yesterday: ‘Take control of your time and earnings. Drive your way to €1,300 every week.’

FreeNow told the ASAI the statement of earning up to €1,300 a week was obtained from actual driver earnings data from 2022.

In 2022 just over 7% of drivers had earned that amount a week based on 31 ‘average hours in booking’, which adds up to almost €68,000 for a 52-week year.

Free Now was also contacted for comment.

Prize ‘provided funds toward’ a car