The ad appeared in the national press, headlined "Robbed by
Lastminute.com?" It showed a picture of a burglar with "ONLINE
AGENT" written on his top. Lastminute.com complained to the
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ad was misleading
and, together with the cartoon robber, "denigrated and discredited"
its business.
Ryanair denied the claims. It argued that Lastminute.com was not
authorised to sell its flights and that, in selling Ryanair
flights, Lastminute.com was in clear breach of the conditions for
use of Ryanair.com, which restricts use to "private non-commercial
purposes." Ryanair also accused Lastminute.com of inflating the
prices without consent and without informing passengers.
The ASA said that Ryanair failed to provide evidence to show
that Lastminute.com overcharged customers and had therefore not
substantiated the claim "Robbed by Lastminute.com?"
"We concluded that the claim in conjunction with the image of a
robber misleadingly and unfairly discredited Lastminute's
business," said the ruling, published today.
The ruling did not address Ryanair's argument that its website
conditions forbid non-private, commercial use of the site, perhaps
deeming that a matter more suitable for resolution by a court.
Lastminute.com also complained that a statement in the ad that
said "They overcharge by 100% or more" was misleading. The ASA
ruled in Lastminute.com's favour.
Lastminute.com also said that the advert's claim "Don't provide
correct terms and conditions" was misleading because Lastminute.com
incorporated all their suppliers' terms and conditions into their
own terms and conditions, which customers had to agree to before
making a purchase.
Lastminute.com's terms and conditions stated:
"... the contract for the
product is between you and the supplier. In most cases this
will mean that there are additional terms and conditions governing
the contract as each supplier will have terms and conditions
relating to that product. Please make sure that you have read
these terms and conditions before completing your transaction with
us."
The ASA wrote: "We considered that the reference to additional
terms and conditions made it clear to customers that they should
make further checks with the airline." It concluded that the
advert's claim was misleading.
