Mailing that was 'guaranteed' to disappoint

When a consumer received a direct mailing from Abbey National offering him, “A guaranteed loan of £10,000” it was an offer that raised more than a passing interest. Upon reading the rest of the advertisement the offer became even more tempting; the marketers stressed that arranging the loan was “hassle-free” and placed an emphasis again on the fact it was “guaranteed” before stating once more for good measure that all the consumer had to do to take up the offer of a “guaranteed Abbeyloan” was call them.

Believing that he was guaranteed a loan of up to £10,000 the consumer called up to arrange it. Imagine his astonishment then when his application was turned down. He immediately contacted the Advertising Standards Authority to object. Understandably he queried the validity of the claim that the loan was “guaranteed” but he also objected to the fact that, to add insult to injury, the advertisers, despite rejecting his application, had re-sent the direct mailing for the guaranteed loan to him again.

Abbey National pointed out that there was a clause in place on the reverse of the mailing that listed the terms and conditions to the offer. However the advertisers had to admit that in the mailing they had sent to the complainant, the asterisk linking the headline, “a guaranteed loan … waiting for you” to the clause on the back was actually missing. In response to the complaint about the mailing that was re-sent after the complainant’s application had been rejected, the advertisers admitted that all applicants were sent a follow-up mailshot and they currently couldn’t stop these being posted out, even when an applicant had been turned down.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld both complaints and welcomed the fact that the advertisers had agreed to amend their future mailings. It found the claim of a guaranteed loan in the mailing was contradicted by the exceptions stated in the clause on the reverse. Because some financial conditions applied to the loan it couldn’t be “guaranteed”. The ASA also took a dim view of the fact that applicants who had been turned down received a second mailing offering them the loan. It told the advertisers not to repeat this in future.

This illustrates the importance of clearly stating the terms and conditions of an offer so as to avoid misleading the consumer and breaching the advertising Code. The Advertising Standards Authority told Abbey National to seek guidance from the Committee of Advertising Practice Copy Advice team before advertising in future.