December 12, 2011
The US web discount company, Groupon may be forced to drop some of its most striking promotional deals as it has been found to of breached UK advertising laws approximately 50 times in less than a year.
The company offers discount coupons on a wide variety of products from restaurant meals to theatre tickets and has even offered discounts on cosmetic surgery.
Groupon’s numerous breaches of UK advertising laws led to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) referring the company to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) who have now launched an investigation. It has however emerged that the OFT had already started investigating the behaviour of Groupon back in July to check whether they were: “complying with consumer protection legislation, including in relation to certain of its advertising practices".
ASA’s referral to the OFT is the first since Ryanair was investigated for several breaches of the advertising code back in 2008. The advertising watchdog has published details of 11 breaches by Groupon of the formal code and there are a further 37 informal breaches which have been reported but details have not been published.
In a statement the OFT said: "This investigation is ongoing and the OFT will not be in a position to determine whether it considers the law has been infringed until it has completed its investigations and assessed the available evidence,"
A spokeswoman for Groupon said: "Groupon constantly strives for business practices that are in the best interest of consumers," She added: "We are constantly evolving business process to ensure customers receive the best possible experience at the highest standards. We are co-operating fully with the OFT to ensure that the rights of consumers are protected."
