Amazon and Poundland hit by Advertising Standards Authority warnings
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has fired off a warning to Amazon about its "misleading" Amazon Prime promotion and given a ticking off to Poundland for letting its customers think that every item it sells costs £1.
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The independent regulator for advertising, which rules across all media, including online and in social media, criticised Amazon for not making sufficiently sure that customers knew they would automatically sign up to a hefty direct debit at the end of their Amazon Prime trial period.
Online retail giant Amazon argued that it was no longer running the promotion and that the stipulations for taking up the trail were detailed in the direct mail and that the advert gave customers interested in taking up the 30-day free trial an option to "learn more" by visiting the listed web link.
The ASA said Amazon did not make sufficiently clear that a paid subscription would automatically start if not cancelled during the free trial, and that Amazon did not state what the cost of the subscription would be.
FWIW I've just discovered I've been a paying #AmazonPrime member since 2010. Duh. Thought it was free. Very sneaky.
— Dominic Frisby (@DominicFrisby) February 17, 2015
Amazon Prime really are shifty feckers. Tried to pin an £80 annual subs on me.
— Ken Veksler (@KenVeksler) February 18, 2015
Meanwhile, the ASA said several sections on Poundland's website, including the 'About us' page, were misleading.
In its ruling ASA said the company's many claims about its prices "suggested that every item sold by Poundland cost £1, regardless of whether or not they were sold via a concession arrangement or as promotional goods that were not otherwise available for purchase. Therefore, because that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading."