The Advertising Standards Authority received 27 complaints after Avon issued a brochure with the front cover showing a Siemens mobile phone and two skincare products. The offer stated that consumers would receive a voucher to purchase a free Orange pay-as-you-go mobile phone when they spent 拢15 or more on the Anew skincare range.
Avon stated that the deal was available until April 30 2004. Smallprint at the bottom of the page stated: "Offer subject to availability. Limited to one mobile phone voucher per customer."
The cosmetics giant failed to anticipate the huge demand that the promotion would give rise to, with reports that as many as 750,000 customers attempted to take up the offer, with only 60,000 of the vouchers available.
This led to complainants saying that the ad was misleading, because they had ordered the products and not received the voucher, that the promoter had failed to provide a substitute product, and that even of those who had received their vouchers, some had been unable to redeem it more than 30 days after they had received it.
Avon said that it believed it had explained to customers and its sales representatives that the promotion was limited to the number of vouchers it could supply.
However, the ASA upheld the first complaint because Avon continued to promote the voucher offer until March 31, despite knowing that it could not meet demand. They were also concerned that Avon ha estimated the number of phone vouchers required to meet demand on the basis of a previous promotion.
Secondly, Avon claimed that it had offered disappointed customers the Anew skin cream at half price and also stated that customers paid for goods upon receipt. Those who chose not to accept the offer could cancel their order and would not be disadvantaged financially.
The ASA said that the Avon representatives were disadvantaged at least temporarily because they pay the invoice for products ordered, then returns are credited the following month.
It said that Avon should have made clear to customers that they could cancel their order and that the product offered was a goodwill gesture, not a substitute for the product.
Finally, the authority noted that several complainants, who had tried to redeem their voucher, had been waiting more than six weeks to receive a phone and not been kept informed of any progress. Avon was reminded that the code states that orders should take no longer than 30 days and that customers should be informed on progress in the future.
The promotion echoes the infamous Hoover free flights promotion, where the company offered two air tickets to customers who spent more than 拢100. It ended up costing Hoover's owner at the time, Maytag, more than 拢50m. In September 2000, NTL received 176 complaints when the company offered free internet access on a direct mailing, then hundreds of customers could not receive the service.
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