ADVERTISING watchdog, the ASA, has ruled that Land Rover parts specialist Paddock Spares has gone beyond the boundaries of fair representation by presenting ex-VAT prices as the main cost of an item with the inclusive price in small numbers underneath.
The ASA found this unacceptable. “Given its greater prominence, we considered that consumers were likely to understand that that was the price they would be able to achieve, whereas that was not the case,” said the ruling. “In addition, while the prices were labelled as ‘ex-VAT’ and ‘inc-VAT’, we considered that was not sufficient to make clear to whom each claim was addressed, and in particular that it did not constitute the VAT-exclusive price being clearly addressed to business customers.”
“We were also concerned that the VAT-exclusive prices were not accompanied by a prominent statement of the amount or rate of VAT payable, as required by the Code.”
The ASA has ordered that the site must be changed to give both prices equal prominence.
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