I S Trading
39 Queens Road
London
NW11 2QP |
Complaint:
Objections to a direct mailing and a magazine advertisement for a home-working scheme.
a. The direct mailing was headed "I.S. Trading MAILING TYPING CORRESPONDENCE INFORMATION AND PRODUCT MARKETING". Text stated "Dear Homeworker/Opportunity Seeker, - THIS IS A GENUINE OFFER -
We are looking for homeworkers for mailing envelopes and typing which can be completed at home ... No other home venture offers you the opportunity to generate a substantial income ... MAILING ... You will be given, by our driver, a list of say, 500 customers names and addresses, bundles of leaflets, envelopes and stamps ... You will be paid at the rate of £1.10 per envelope ... You should be able to earn yourself a substantial amount of money ... We own several other businesses and hope to provide as much work as soon as possible for our members ... TYPING ... You will be given, by our driver, letters, manuscripts, contact lists, reminders ... etc. We pay between £6.00-£8.00 per page ... WHAT DO I DO NOW? ... In order to become a member, we ask for a small lifetime membership fee of £25.00, which is refunded to you along with your first payment ... We are expanding nationwide and will need all the help we can get from our members. POST THE COUPON TODAY. YOU WILL BE CONTACTED BY POST WITHIN A FEW DAYS ... my lifetime membership fee. I understand that this will be refunded to me with my first payment, or anytime I wish to cancel my membership with I.S. Trading ..."
b. The magazine advertisement stated "EARN EXTRA CASH Working at home mailing envelopes or typing ..."
The complainants challenged whether:
1. the advertisements misleadingly implied that the advertisers provided work for members, because they had heard nothing from the company after joining, and
2. the advertisers refunded membership fees as promised. Codes Section: 3.1, 6.1, 7.1, 54.4 (Ed 10)
Adjudication:
1. Complaints upheld
The advertisers recognized that some of their members were not provided with work ''within the time limits set by the member''. The advertisers nevertheless said that in July 2002 they had provided the Authority with evidence of work provided to members. When asked, the advertisers provided five more signed wage receipts, from people they asserted had completed mailing and typing work for them. The Authority noted that between them, the five recent receipts related to only three individuals. It noted the receipts were similar to the evidence sent as backing for the advertisers'' earnings claims in the previous investigation. The Authority considered evidence that three people had received work in the last 12 months was not enough to prove that the advertisers provided work for their members.
2. Complaints upheld
The advertisers said, over the past 12 years of trading, they were not aware of refunds being refused to members. The advertisers provided three signed receipts from members who had completed work for them; the receipts stated that the £25 membership fee had been refunded. The advertisers also provided 100 photocopied membership cards; they said those cards all belonged to members of I.S. Trading who had had their membership fees refunded. The advertisers asserted that they actively contacted members who had not been found work within an unspecified time limit, and offered them a refund upon return of their membership card. They said if a refunded membership was sought by a member, via a Trading Standards Office, or the ASA, the advertisers always complied with the request. They said their willingness to refund members could be confirmed by Haringey Trading Standards. Haringey Trading Standards said, over the past eight years, they had received numerous complaints from members of the public who had experienced difficulty in getting their memberships refunded. The Authority noted that the ASA had also received frequent requests from members of the public attempting to have their memberships refunded. The Authority was concerned that, although the direct mail stated "I understand that [my membership fee] will be refunded to me ... anytime I wish to cancel my membership with I.S. Trading", members had sought the assistance of Trading Standards and the ASA to get their memberships refunded. The Authority considered that the receipts and photocopied membership cards sent by the advertisers were not enough substantiation that the advertisers always refunded memberships. The Authority concluded that the mailing was misleading because the advertisers did not refund memberships as promised in the advertisement. The Authority told the advertisers to withdraw the mailing, and to seek assistance from the Committee of Advertising Practice Copy Advice team before advertising again. |
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