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What can I do if I believe I have been mislead by advertising?

There are three organizations that you need to know about should you feel that you have been a victim of misleading advertising.

The first is the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which has a remit covering print advertisements in magazines and newspapers, along with outdoor posters, direct mail brochures and leaflets, internet advertisements (both banner ads and pop-ups), cinema advertisements, commercial emails and any kind of sales promotions.

The ASA covers non-broadcasts advertisements. For television adverts, the Independent Television Commission (ITC) can be contacted. The Radio Authority (RA) deals with misleading advertising on the radio.

You should make the complaint in writing, so that they have a proper record of the complaint and can also make sure that there is not a misunderstanding about which advertisement you are complaining about and what the reasons are for your complaint. All three organisations allow you to fill in an online complaint form as an alternative to writing a letter.

With a non-broadcast advertisement, you should be able to send a copy of the ad, stating when and where it appeared. This will help you to point out the problem. You should also include your name and address so you can have your complaint acknowledged and be kept informed of it's progress.

When you write to one of the broadcasting authorities there is certain information they need. Firstly you need to tell them the name of TV channel and the programme you were watching, or the radio programme and station you were listening to. Then, the date and time of the ad or the teletext page number if relevant. Follow this with the exact nature of the complaint, including the name of the advertised product.

After you have sent in your complaint, the relevant authority will investigate in detail your grievance. Should they agree that there is a case to answer, they will raise the issue with the relevant media company (be it TV station, radio station, internet site, magazine publisher). Should it be decided that there has been a breach, the complaint will be upheld, and the company may be ordered to make any changes necessary to prevent repetition. Should the breach be either serious or persistent, a formal warning could be issued to the company. For the most serious cases, the company may have to broadcast, print, or publish an apology or a correction. The complaints agencies could also fine the company, or shorten their licence term (for TV or radio companies) or in extreme cases, withdraw the licence altogether.

Something to think about is if you are complaining about the service from an advertiser. An isolated service problem does not make an advertisement misleading in itself. Complaints commissions cannot intervene in a dispute between a company and a customer.

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