Laptops firm warned over advert claims
THE advertising regulator has warned Laptops Direct about implying savings are greater than the reality.
The Huddersfield firm, part of Buy It Direct, was reported to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) following complaints it was advertising a computer gaming monitor was being sold £310 below regular retail price.
The complainant said they had never seen the £339.97 electriQ brand gaming monitor sold for £649.97, as claimed on the Laptops Direct website.
The ASA investigated the issue, reported last February, and has now upheld the complaint.
Laptops Direct told the ASA the price saving claim was a “data error” and it had been quickly rectified after it appeared on their site on February 18.
But the ASA has still issued a warning saying the ad breached rules on misleading advertising.
It said: “We told Buy It Direct Ltd, trading as Laptops Direct, not to imply savings were against the usual selling price of products if that was not the case, and to ensure they held adequate substantiation that savings claims represented genuine savings against the price at which product were usually sold.”
Mark Kelly, marketing manager for Buy It Direct, said: “We’re a business focused on sourcing the best possible deals for our customers and electriQ represents real value for our customers.
“It’s a shame that the ASA have decided to focus on a single pricing error on our website without understanding that as a business we sell tens of thousands of products.
“As soon as we spotted the error it was rectified.
“As a way of saying sorry to our customers we’ve dropped the price of a similar product – our 35” Gaming Monitor to just £319.97.”
Buy It Direct, also known for its brands AppliancesDirect.co.uk and Furniture123.co.uk, is based in Leeds Road, Huddersfield.
It was started by managing director Nick Glynne when he bought a computer repair shop in Fartown in 1999.
The firm now has an annual turnover of £250m and employs more than 450 staff.