Sales Time Is Every Time!

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I’ve said for some time that the many furniture sales advertised on television are often just a scam.

Ignoring the fact that I wouldn’t give house room to much of the bulky furniture being sold at so-called ‘Sale’ prices, the frequency of the television adverts suggests that the sale price is the ‘real’ price.

Labour MP David Taylor has now told that Commons that it is virtually impossible to find sofas and armchairs at the full selling price and that shoppers are being misled by the television and newspaper advertisements. I’m not sure I agree entirely on this last point, but I agree that something needs to be done.

The Advertising Standards Authority have twice upheld complaints in the last year against DFS’s half-price claims in TV adverts, ruling that they were misleading, and Mr Taylor comments that, ‘there is no way of knowing whether the discounted price represents a real saving for the potential consumer or just whether it is a cynical, deceitful come-on’.

New pricing practices guidelines are set out in the Consumer White Paper and are supposed to tighten things up. This remains to be seen.

In the meantime, it would be good to see fewer of these wretched furniture sales advertisements on television.
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‘Robust Evidence’

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Almost lost in the small print of the papers this morning is the ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority that claims by a baby product company that a follow-on milk for children which was said to support their immune system was misleading. The ASA ruled that such claims should not have been made without ‘robust’ evidence.

‘Robust evidence’. What an interesting phrase.

Could it be applied to this government’s claims over the years and, if so, can we make a complaint to the ASA about them?
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