ASA upholds SpicerHaart complaint about estate agency ad

6 October 2010 | By Natalie Thomas

A regional press ad, for Douglas Allen estate agents, showed photographs and gave details of various properties for sale in Bow, Clapton, Poplar and Dalston.

The text “Hackney office 020 7923 1919” appeared below one of the properties for sale in Clapton and one in Dalston.

At the bottom of the ad, text stated “For your ideal home, contact your local branch: Bow: 020 8880 6333 Hackney: 020 7923 1919”.

Text in a separate box stated “public notice Douglas Allen are now in receipt of an offer … for 180a Clarence Road, Clapton … Anyone wishing to place an offer for this property should contact: Douglas Allen, 13 Kingsland High Street, Dalston, E8 2JS. Tel: 0207 923 1919 before exchange of contracts. Hackney office 020 7923 1919.”

SpicerHaart Group, which has had several complaints against it upheld over the year thought the ad was misleading, because Douglas Allen did not have a branch in Hackney. They said the closest branch was in Dalston, and the Hackney phone number quoted in the ad was in fact for the Dalston office.

Douglas Allen said they were surprised at the idea that anyone could find the ad misleading, because their branch trading from 13 Kingsland High Street, Dalston was in the London Borough of Hackney. They said they assumed the ASA would have the necessary documentation to substantiate that.

The ASA noted the ad described Hackney as “your local branch” and also stated “Hackney office”.

Because the words branch and office were used, it considered readers were likely to expect that Douglas Allen were referring to a physical office as opposed to merely coverage in Hackney.

It acknowledged that Dalston was in the London Borough of Hackney. However, it noted the ad did not simultaneously give an address for the branch and did not mention Dalston where it referred to the local branch in Hackney.

Because the London Borough of Hackney contained several different locations, one of which was Dalston, it considered it would not be possible for readers to guess whereabouts in the borough the “local branch” was and therefore they were likely to infer that “your local branch Hackney” meant the Hackney Central location specifically, not the London Borough of Hackney generally.

It was of the view that readers would expect office locations given in ads for estate agents to be more specific than merely the London borough the office was in; it noted the other “local branch” referred to in the ad was “Bow” as opposed to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where Bow was situated.

Although elsewhere the ad gave an address in Dalston and referred to the “Hackney office” under the “public notice” heading, and gave details of a property in Dalston while referring to the “Hackney office”, it also gave details of a property in Clapton while referring to the “Hackney office”.

It concluded that it was not clear that Douglas Allen did not have a branch in the Hackney Central location and the closest branch was in Dalston, and that the ad was likely to mislead.

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