The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints about the way Amazon presented its delivery charges on a listing on its website. A customer cried foul after being charged for delivery despite the product’s search listing saying it was “eligible for free United Kingdom delivery”.
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The issue surrounds ads seen on 12 July 2015 and relate to the delivery charges for an electronic product sold by AmazonBasics.
The advertising watchdog upheld a complaint from a customer who complained Amazon’s delivery information was misleading after they tried to order a AmazonBasics electrical product for £18.49 thinking it was “eligible for free United Kingdom delivery”, while the product page itself said the customer would only get “free delivery in the United Kingdom on orders over £20”.
In regards to the search listing, the consumer contested that the delivery pricing was unclear, while on the second count they argued that Amazon did not make it sufficiently clear the terms under which the item would be eligible for free delivery – ie whether they would have to spend £20 in total to qualify.
While the listing stated that the £18.49 item was eligible for free delivery, the product page stated “free delivery in the United Kingdom on orders over £20”.
A lack of clarification has put Amazon in hot water with the ASA in the past.
The product page, meanwhile, tweaked the message to “free delivery in the United Kingdom on orders over £20”.
The ASA provided Amazon’s response to the complaint, and then explained its logic for ruling as it did.
The ASA noted that Amazon’s delivery charges were complex but also stipulated that the cost of delivery would form part of a buyer’s decision making process when adding items to their shopping basket. In addition, when highlighting that items are available for free delivery, the claims used to communicate the offer must not mislead consumers.
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The ASA, however, has called bullshit and told Amazon to list delivery charges alongside product prices and stop misleading customers.
