Magazine subs and free gift are my friends right?

rincelex

I regularly buy a particular magazine and last month a subscription offer came up that I was very interested in. Two packs of these special coloured glitter pens, which I know retail for £22.95 per pack and a clear glitter pen which is probably worth about £5. It quite clearly states in the magazine that you will get two packs and a clear overlay pen containing just glitter.

A month later and the first issue of the magazine arrives and a day later a parcel with the two packs of pens in but no clear pen. I sent an email to the magazine company and they are saying sorry its a misprint in the magazine there is no clear pen as part of the subscription offer. I just accepted this.

I was telling this at my local craft group today and they all said that its misleading advertising and that I should ask for the pen as advertised (I would add that there are numerous versions of this pen available so it wouldn't be difficult for them to find one and I bet they even have some as freebies from companies in their office). Are my friends right or should I just accept their email explanation?

lincroft1710

How far do you want to go over a £5 pen?

If you can find a current ad with the clear pen offer, then you have some leverage.

stuartJo1989

rincelex wrote: »

they all said that its misleading advertising

Well maybe.... I would recommend contacting ASA maybe?

BUT there are two possibilities, a genuine mistake and misleading advertising. In your case you've got two elements working against your claim for "misleading advertising":

1. They provided the pens! From what I can make out, they simply didn't provide the clear one as advertised. Now, do you believe that the offer of a free clear pen is a significant factor in someone subscribing to the magazine? Probably not to be fair... People don't typically go "oooh, a free clear pen. Let's subscribe!". They go "ooh, a free pen. Let's subscribe!". They sent them out, just the wrong one. They could have just not sent them out and saved money.

2. You were already interested in the magazine! You'd have to establish that this free offer tipped it, as apposed to your continued interest (and maybe other factors such as them promoting a special price etc).

Ultimately, for the sake of a free pen I'd just accept that it was a mistake and/or contact ASA if you deem it necessary.

Aside from that, you're probably looking at taking them to court. And even then, its probably in relation to YOUR WHOLE CONTRACT (all the magazines) and you'd have to potentially return them and claim breach of contract etc.

rincelex

Its not about the pen, honestly how difficult is it to proof read a whole sentence wrong.

I still have the magazine with the advert it was only last month.

The pen is absolutely gorgeous so gutted to miss out on it.

mije1983

rincelex wrote: »

Its not about the pen

It sounds like it IS about the pen

rincelex wrote: »

The pen is absolutely gorgeous so gutted to miss out on it.

If they cannot supply you with the pen, then you could ask them to refund your subcription amount. Of course this would mean you wouldn't receive the magazine. But you could then buy the £5 pen yourself with the money you got back so you would no longer be 'gutted'

Seriously though, as said, you could report them to the ASA, but that won't get you your pen. More than likely they will just tell the company to not do it again, so you won't be any better off.

Alternatively, you could always issue an LBA and take them to court for the cost of the pen if you really want to.

If it were me, I would maybe push for an extra issue to be added to the subscription length as goodwill, but if they said no I wouldn't take it any further. You have to balance the effort with the reward, and spending more time than just sending an email for me would be too much hassle for £5.

SouthUKMan

I suspect it is all about the pen I would simply write another short polite letter or email outlining that you "took out the subscription based on the offer printed in the magazine" and that you are "disappointed that they feel unable to fulfill their promise". And as such, that you "feel it only fair that they offer a suitable replacement".

Personally I wouldn't push it anymore than that as some battles are worth fighting and others aren't - although I'll be the first to admit that I don't like to be duped - mistake on their part or not.

The only other thought I would add is that there are likely to be terms and conditions attached to the offer. Maybe one of the t&cs states something like "we reserve the right to withdraw parts of the offer" etc. Just a thought there...

eddddy

In legal terms, it sounds like the magazine company are in breach of contract.

So if they refuse to supply the pen, one remedy would be to buy the pen yourself (at a reasonable price) and then claim the cost back from the magazine company.

If they refuse to pay, I guess you could take them to the small claims court.

It's up to you whether you think it's worth it.

stuartJo1989

eddddy wrote: »

In legal terms, it sounds like the magazine company are in breach of contract.

So if they refuse to supply the pen, one remedy would be to buy the pen yourself (at a reasonable price) and then claim the cost back from the magazine company.

If they refuse to pay, I guess you could take them to the small claims court.

It's up to you whether you think it's worth it.

I agree!

Only thing I'd add though is that I'm not fully convinced that any false advertising was intentional here. It really does *seem* (to me) to be a mistake here. Such a situation would not automatically make it false advertising.

deaston

I read the title as you stating that your friends are a magazine and a free gift.

Punctuation is an amazing tool.

eddddy

stuartJo1989 wrote: »

I agree!

Only thing I'd add though is that I'm not fully convinced that any false advertising was intentional here. It really does *seem* (to me) to be a mistake here. Such a situation would not automatically make it false advertising.

I too assume it was a mistake.

If they had intentionally advertised something which they intended to take money for and not provide, it would be conspiracy to defraud - which is a criminal offence.

And then taking the OP's money with the intention of not supplying the pen they promised would be fraud - which is also a criminal offence.

(Although I doubt that the police would have the resources to investigate a £5 fraud.)