The complaint focused on an online banner ad which included the claim ‘Condor Ferries – UK from £32 pp* each way with your car. Book now’.
The complainant said they could not find a booking at the advertised price.
Condor argued that a minimum of ten per cent of sailings between the Channel Islands and the UK were available at the advertised ‘from’ fares.
‘The ASA considered consumers would understand the claim “UK from £32pp each way with your car” to mean that a significant proportion of sailings to and from UK destinations throughout the year would be priced at £32 per person if they were travelling with a car,’ the ASA ruling stated.
‘Condor Ferries were not able to provide pricing information as it stood at the time the ad was seen by the complainant.
‘Instead they provided evidence relating to their pricing as it was on 30 June 2017, at which point they were advertising a price point of “from £59”, for sailings during the period June 2017 to March 2018.’
The ASA reviewed how Condor calculated the updated ‘from £59’ pricing claim.
‘We noted many of the journeys at that price point were during off-peak travel periods, with long periods where that price was not available.’
The ASA said that when it searched for sailings which the evidence indicated should have been available for £59 it could not find anything at that price.
It ruled that the advert must not appear again in its current form.
