The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against Attraction Tickets over a paid-for Google advert promising customers that if they found a lower price it would match it.
The ASA found the pledge misleading because it applied only to lower prices charged by ABTA and ABTOT members, a restriction not stated in the advert.
Attraction Tickets argued the promise ‘Find A Lower Price & We’ll Match It’ was subject to several terms and conditions, which were ‘clearly set out’ on the relevant page of its website.
It also cited the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing’s (CAP Code) allowance for time and space limitations, saying Google’s character limits left room only for the headline promise, with the full conditions available online.
The company added it had removed the wording as a ‘precautionary measure’ while the ASA investigated.
The ASA acknowledged those constraints, and accepted that the full terms were available on Attraction Tickets’ website. However, it noted that the relevant page was ‘at least two clicks’ from the advert.
The ASA also reiterated that the CAP Code requires marketing communications to state any significant limitations and qualifications.
In its ruling, ASA said: “We considered that the restriction that the price match promise only applied to lower-priced tickets from an ABTA or ABTOT member was a significant qualification that should have been included in the ad itself. We further considered that the ad was not limited by time or space to such an extent that the information could not have been provided. We therefore concluded that the claim ‘Find A Lower Price & We’ll Match It’ was misleading.”
