PC World has been rapped by the
Advertising Standards Authority for touting £199 bargain laptop PCs which consumers complained were not actually available.
The ASA received complaints from
Mansfield Computers,
The Computer Shop,
Bits'N'PC's and 47 members of the public, most of whom visited PC World stores on the morning of the first day of the sale.
PC World explained that it had sold nearly 2,500 units at the offer price of £199, and that it had applied a one laptop per customer limit.
The company argued that this had allowed almost 2,500 customers to take advantage of the offer.
PC World added that, in the two to three weeks prior to the sale, it had experienced demand of approximately 14 units per day and therefore believed that it had coped well with the increased demand.
The retailer told the ASA that just under 100 units remained at the end of the two-day sale, and that it therefore believed it had been able to satisfy demand even if some stores had sold out.
However, in upholding the complaint, the ASA considered that the retailer's adverts, which featured scenes of many computers being delivered, implied that there was no limit on the number of laptops available during the sale.
"However, we understood from the complainants that only 10 laptops were available per store and only one laptop was available per customer during the two-day sale and that customers waiting to get into PC World stores had been given a leaflet explaining that," said the ASA ruling.
"Because the TV ad did not make clear that there was a limit on availability, we concluded that it was misleading by omission."
The advertising watchdog ruled that the TV ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications).