The ASA said it was “concerned” to find Affordable Mobiles had incorrectly advertised the HTC One silver as in stock and available for next-day delivery
The advertising standards authority (ASA) has banned an advert from mobile phone retailer Affordable Mobiles after it founds claims of next day delivery were “misleading”.
The online retailer, owned by B2B dealer A1 Comms, displayed an advert on its website which said the silver HTC One smartphone was is stock and that anyone who ordered it before 7PM would qualify for free next-day delivery.
The ASA investigated the advert after a consumer complained they had not received the product within the specified delivery time.
In its defence, Affordable Mobiles said the HTC One in silver was in “short supply” due to high demand when it was first released, and that they “had struggled to obtain large amounts of stock for many weeks.”
The retailer said terms and conditions stated the products were subject to availability and that customers would be notified within two days if a product they had ordered was out of stock.
However, the ASA upheld the complaint, saying it was “concerned to note that it was possible for items to be displayed as “in stock” and available for next day delivery, even when the stock in question might not be sufficient to fulfil existing orders.”
The body ruled the advert must not appear again in its current form, and told Affordable Mobiles products should not be displayed as “in stock” or available for next day delivery if they are not.