This article is more than 1 year old

Tiny.com ticked off by ad watchdog

Small print included big delivery charge

Time Group Ltd - trading as tiny.com - has been told off by the advertising watchdog for running a misleading ad for its PCs.

Someone from Merseyside complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after seeing an ad for a Power PC retailing at £699. He or she got the hump because the ad didn't make it clear that the deal included an "additional, compulsory delivery charge" of £39.99.

The complainer was also a tad miffed that the ad - which boasted that tiny.com had 130 stores across the UK - didn't emphasise that the offer was not available in the stores, but could only be ordered over the phone or online.

The ASA upheld both complaints.

Yesterday, it was revealed that the number of complaints about dodgy adverts generated by the UK's computer and telecoms industry fell to 1,322 in 2004 from 1,579 the year before.

Despite this, the UK's tech sector is still one of the biggest industry offenders, second only to the "leisure" market. ®

Related stories

Tech ad complaints fall
'Irresponsible' Wanadoo TV ad banned
Telewest belted for 'spoof' mailshot
Tiny transforms into e-business

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like