The Oak Furniture Land chain has found itself in trouble with the ad watchdog again, this time for failing to prove that promotional prices were genuine reductions.
After the retailer sent out a "four-day spectacular" email advertising a range of products at sale prices someone complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that he thought the prices quoted were standard, and not available for a limited time only.

Amongst products featured was Oak Furniture Land's large, solid oak Chaucer sideboard, whose price the retailer claimed had been reduced from £838.49 to £394.95.

Oak Furniture Land told the ASA that the sideboard had, by mistake, been chosen by two different departments to be included in two separate promotions that ran very close together. It said it had been included in the four-day spectacular promotion, and then the price had gone up again before coming down once more for the second promotion.

However, the retailer was unable to provide evidence, such as invoices or sales receipts, that the sideboard was usually sold at £838.49. In fact, it could not prove that any of the items featured had ever been sold at the "was" prices stated in the email.

The ASA therefore decided that the ad was misleading and told Oak Furniture Land to ensure it did not say that its savings prices were time-limited or promotional if they actually reflected the prices at which the items were generally sold.

Oak Furniture Land said that as a result of the complaint it would review its marketing emails and how it communicated with its database.

Last month, the furniture retailer was rapped over the knuckles by the ASA for misleading consumers over delivery times.