A mortgage brokerage agreed to resolve a complaint about a Facebook competition prize after an intervention by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

A customer complained to the ASA after being unable to claim their £50 prize from Mortgages One Stop, a trading name of The Right Mortgage Ltd.

The complaint was based on whether the competition had been administered fairly by the brokerage which covers Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Fife, Perth and Falkirk in Scotland.

Challenged

An ASA spokesperson told The Neg: “We received a complaint about a Facebook competition where the winner would receive a £50 voucher.

“A complainant, who had won the giveaway but hadn’t been able to contact the advertiser to receive their prize, challenged whether the promotion had been administered fairly,” the spokesperson said.

“We approached the advertiser about the issue that had been raised and they agreed to resolve the issue without being subject to a formal ruling. Because of this we closed the case informally, without the need for a formal investigation.”

Misleading ad

It follows independent estate agency Carter Shaw agreeing in December to change a ‘misleading’ advert after a complaint led to an investigation by the ASA.

Carter Shaw, based in Poole, Dorset, accepted that the wording in the ad could be misinterpreted. The ad related to discounts offered for a full property management service.

And earlier last year, a multi-branch estate agency in Lancashire agreed to change an advert following a complaint that it wasn’t clearly a marketing communication.

Petty Real Estates was approached by the ASA over the ad after the complainant said it breached rules on the use of consumer data.