PC World let off over ad

Two complaints about an advert for a Compaq laptop being sold at £399 in PC World stores have been dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The adverts showed a laptop which normally retailed for £499 being sold at the reduced price of £399, and were shown on television between 29 November and 4 December, the day the promotion was due to end.

However, due to what PC World claimed was a "broadcaster error", the ad was shown on 5 December. Two individuals who saw the adverts tried to purchase the laptop in question in their local PC World stores.

However, both were disappointed to find the laptop was not available at that price and complained to advertising watchdog ASA.

The ASA accepted PC World's explanation that the promotion had been due to end on 4 December and the advert had been shown the following day without PC World's knowledge.

"We acknowledged that two viewers were disappointed that they could not buy the advertised Compaq C300EA laptop at the Braehead Glasgow and Wakefield stores and were possibly misinformed about the availability and price of the laptop in those stores," the ASA said in its adjudication.

"We also noted those viewers tried to purchase the laptop on 5 December and the promotion was scheduled to end on 4 December but because of broadcaster error, the ad was mistakenly aired on 5 December without PC World's knowledge," The ASA said.

The ASA also stated that it was confident that PC World had anticipated demand adequately and there were no issues with stock levels.

www.asa.org.uk

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