Bid Tv caught out by the ASA.

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Bennyxp

Registered Shopper
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
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A few weeks ago Paul Becque was selling some on those Ipad look alikes on the channel, and there were many things I wasn't happy about.

1. Paul said he started the auction with 125, and then as it was popular they sold another 100. Infact, they only sold 75 then 50. So infact they sold 125 in total not 225 which they said. This could have made the viewer think they were more popular than they actually were making people get in faster.

2. We only saw the quantity box when there were only about 20 left on each time. So on the second one, when Paul said there were 100 and only 50, he said 'What we have less than 80? What? Now under 70? Now lest than 60? OKAY now this is serious....we have 48 remaining. (So viewers may have thought they sold over 50 when infact they only sold 2!)

3. After the 1st lot went, Paul said 'Can we try and get some more? please? Can we ring the buyers? - The chances are, he wouldn't have said that live on air if he wasn't sure if he could get anymore, and the chances were, that they wouldn't have rung the buyers.

4. The start price was £190 and he said to 'BOB' 'How low can we go? What? Are you sure? Really? I cant go back on my word? Okay, were doing a one-off special. Okay under £200' Well the start price was £190 and it sold for £189.95, so by him saying that, it may have made the viewer think it was a one off special deal.

The reason I knew the quantities Etc, was becuase Paul said before hand on the day. 'I have 125 look a like epads tonight.' I was interested, so I went on their website, and saw it was split into 2 lots, one with 75 in, and one with 50. I had never seen this before and wanted to know how this would have worked when it went live on air.

So that night I watched, and the 125 said he was selling, was the lot with only 75, and the auction with 50 in got held back (which was used as the 100 quantity) They would have had to have planned this ages ago, as they would have had to have planned how it would have been layed out on the website.

It was a foolish thing for them to have done if you ask me.

Well I told the ASA, and this was their response:

We contacted Sit-Up to discuss the issues you raised with them. Following an internal investigation they acceded that your assessment of the situation was correct. We considered that in light of this, the ad was almost certainly in breach of our Code, as the ad would have misled customers about the availability of the product. However as Sit-Up have accepted that this approach should not have been used, and formal disciplinary proceedings have been taken against the responsible staff, we have decided not to investigate in this instance. However, we will monitor the situation and if a similar incident occurs we almost certainly take the matter further.



.

Rant over!! ;)
 
Good for you Ben reporting it , A girl on Paul Becque's Bid Tv Facebook voiced the same concerns that you had Ben and Paul Becque deleted her post so now it shows that her concerns were correct. I take what Paul Becque says now with a pinch of salt.
 
ASA seem rather toothless to me. Irrespective that disciplinary proceedings are allegedly being taken against the staff concerned, corrective / punitive measures should still be taken by ASA to discourage sellers from misinforming customers about items being sold.
 
Good for you Ben reporting it , A girl on Paul Becque's Bid Tv Facebook voiced the same concerns that you had Ben and Paul Becque deleted her post so now it shows that her concerns were correct. I take what Paul Becque says now with a pinch of salt.


Really? I never saw the comment on his facebook, but I'm not surprised somebody else saw it, as he did memtion it on his facebook quite a lot that he had a 'must have' ipad look alike comming in a few weeks, so i was just interested in it, and when he said it was comming up that evening, I wanted to have a quick peak of it!

To be honest, I'm not blaming it on Paul Becque, as even if he was part of it, it wouldn't have been him alone.
Paul Becque has a lot of time for me, and always replys to my comment/emails I send him, and I am very grateful of that. I do think he is a very friendly person inside of work as well as outside of work, he is one of my favourites.
 
ASA seem rather toothless to me. Irrespective that disciplinary proceedings are allegedly being taken against the staff concerned, corrective / punitive measures should still be taken by ASA to discourage sellers from misinforming customers about items being sold.

I agree here too, as if they just say, that they will take no further action as the company has taken it on board, I dont think it is enough in some cases. Im sure if it was on BBC or ITV and somebody reported them to OFCOM for false advertising, they would get more than a smack on the wrist! I think that should be the same for all channels.
 

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