John Lewis ticked off for Nikon D60 price promise

 

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Posted on 22 Oct 2008 at 11:49

John Lewis has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a misleading price promise on digital cameras.

The John Lewis ads offered the Nikon D60 DSLR for £459 and included the chain's familiar claim that "all our shops are Never Knowingly Undersold".

That 80-year-old policy was challenged by the Dixons Group, which pointed out that John Lewis's price promise doesn't cover online retailers - a fact it neglected to mention in the ads.

In its defence, John Lewis claimed it was "unaware of any previous complaints made by consumers or their direct competitors" and that it "didn't believe the absence of the conditions in the ad would mislead consumers".

Not so, ruled the ASA, which upheld the complaint. "We noted the 'Never Knowingly Undersold' policy did not apply to internet and catalogue competitors and considered that consumers would not necessarily expect that condition to apply," its adjudication states. "Because it omitted a significant condition, we concluded that the ad was misleading."

John Lewis has been told to make the conditions clearer in future ads.

Author: Barry Collins