Middlesbrough firm rapped by advertising watchdog over misleading adverts

An internet site claiming to sell antique French furniture has been rapped - because it was not antique or was it French.

Homes Direct 365 advertised a number of products for sale on its own website with names such as the La Rochelle Antique French bed.

But the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint of misleading advertising because they were new and not manufactured in France.

They said buyers could be misled because it was not made clear the products were reproductions copied from French styles.

Homes Direct 365 is based in Skippers Lane Industrial Estate, Middlesbrough, and is an online only trader.

They said customers would have been able to discover the goods were new and reproduction by going to the terms and conditions on their website.

But the ASA said the information should have been more prominent.

The ASA adjudication said: “The ASA noted Home Direct’s assertion that information regarding the fact the products were neither antique nor manufactured in France appeared in the site’s terms and conditions.

“We considered, however, that this was material information that could influence a consumer’s decision as to whether or not to purchase the items, and so should have appeared in a more prominent position.

“The claims must not appear again in their current form. We told Homes Direct 365 Ltd to ensure they made sufficiently clear that their products were in the French antique style rather than antiques that had been made in France.”

The ASA accepted, however, that customers would understand the furniture was new when they navigated to the individual product pages.

They said: “We considered that prior to viewing the individual product pages, consumers could mistakenly believe that the products were manufactured in France and that they were antiques.

“Because it was not made immediately clear that the products were “French Antique” style, we concluded that the ad was misleading.”

Homes Direct said a number of other companies used similar phrases when describing their products.

No-one from the company returned our calls.