Is the ASA fit for purpose?

Many of us have reported Gemporia to the ASA for their dubious sales tactics and misleading over the past year or two.

Many of us have also expressed dissatisfaction that the ASA seem to do little other than give Gemporia repeated warning after repeated warning.

This frustration doesn't just seem limited to this forum. I know of other people that have reported Gemporia, and I've also seen various Facebook posts in jewellery groups, etc where people have reported Gemporia for misleading - and those people have commented that the ASA have either not investigated their complaint at all, or issued a 'slap on the wrist' warning.

I believe that the ASA is not fit for purpose. They are well aware of the amount of times that Gemporia have been referred to them - and they are well aware of the amount of 'warnings' they've handed out to Gemporia. Yet despite that, they seem reluctant to take more serious action to stop Gemporia from misleading once and for all . In short, the ASA do not appear to be a threat to Gemporia. If anything, Gemporia seem to be getting worse with their misleading, and it is my opinion that the reason for that is because they know that they've been referred to the ASA a significant amount of times now - yet no punishment is ever handed out - and therefore, they no longer see the ASA as a deterrent.

Starting an online petition is pointless because they need several thousand signatures before they are acted upon. This issue is too 'niche' for an online petition.

However, I do believe that if we all raise our concerns in this post, it can be presented to a local MP who will have the power to pass it on to the appropriate minister in parliament. That could be far more useful than an online petition.

However, to do that, this post needs to be factual, relevant and provide clear examples of where we believe the ASA have failed the public.

Please refrain from unnecessary digs or posting opinions as fact. We need this post to be as accurate, honest and genuine as possible if anyone of any authority is to take any notice of it.

If you have contacted the ASA at any point, can you please post your experiences and 'outcomes' of any complaints you raised below. Please ensure that it is factual and honest. If you cannot fully remember, please state clearly that it is from memory, and to the best of your knowledge.

I will post some of mine below over the course of the next few days.

3rd March 2024: A complaint was lodged with the ASA, by myself, after a Gemporia presenter was selling a Midas (gold-plated) paperclip chain.

During the presentation, the presenter showed a number of price comparisons - most of which were in the thousands of pounds. However, the price comparisons were not realistic or like-for-like because the price comparisons the presenter was showing was related to GOLD chains. The chain that she was selling was gold-plated silver. I believe that this was deliberately misleading and intended to suggest that the Midas chain they were selling was of comparable worth.

ASA Conclusion / Action: Complaint was acknowledged via an automatic email response - but the complaint was not investigated - despite it being a valid complaint about misleading.

13th March 2024: A complaint was lodged with the ASA, by myself, on 13th March because, on this same date, at around 10.20am, Jewellery Maker brought two products to air - both of which were described as 'Mountain Jade Serpentine'. This title is VERY misleading because Jade and Serpentine are completely different gemstones. Jade is fairly hard (7 on the Mohs scale) but Serpentine is very soft (2.5 on the Mohs scale). In addition, Jade can be fairly expensive - whereas Serpentine is inexpensive. The title "Mountain Jade Serpentine" implied that it was a type of Jade. In addition, the two presenters continually spoke about Jade throughout the whole presentation - which would have further misled customers. Also, the starting price of the first item was £999 - before ending at £69.99p. The second item had a starting price of a whopping £3999 - before ending at around £59.99p Those starting prices were way way over-exaggerated and totally unnecessary. I believe that this was to imply a 'worth' and to suggest that customers were getting a bargain at their final price.

ASA Conclusion / Action: Complaint was acknowledged via an automatic email response - but the complaint was not investigated by them - despite it being a valid complaint about misleading.

28th March 2024: A complaint was lodged with the ASA, by myself, after Dave Troth began a presentation about Jadeite. During the presentation, he gave a detailed speech about prices and valuations of Jadeite. He then brought up an on-screen graphic of a Jadeite retailer, where he talked about the price that an item of theirs sold for. The price show non the graphic was 163,165 HONG KONG dollars. However, the presenter, Dave Troth, stated that the item sold for 163,165 dollars. Numerous countries around the world have dollars as a currency (such as the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, etc) - however, they all vary in value, It is commonly assumed by people that whenever 'dollars' are mentioned, that the term is referring to US dollars. Any other countries 'dollars' are usually referred to with a prefix - such as Australian Dollars or Hong Kong Dollars. In my opinion, the presenter deliberately failed to clarify that the item price was referring to HONG KONG dollars because he wanted to 'hype up' its price. For example, 163,125 HONG KONG dollars works out to just £16,510.72p - but in US dollars (which is what he implied), the price works out to a whopping £129,210.70p - a price difference of £112,700! I believe that failure to clarify that the item was listed in Hong Kong dollars was done to deliberately mislead the value of the item to give a false impression of the value of Jadeite (and to therefore justify Gemporia's prices of their items that went on sale later in the presentation).

ASA Conclusion / Action: The ASA said "I understand that you have raised concerns regarding the use of dollar pricing in an ad for Jadeite. We have reviewed the ad in light of your concerns and considered all the issues raised. On this occasion, having taken our prioritisation principles into account, we have decided to resolve your complaint through the provision of advice. Therefore, we have explained your concerns to the advertiser and provided them with guidance on how to ensure that their advertising complies with the Codes."

7th June 2024: A complaint was lodged with the ASA, by myself, because, on 29th May 2024, at 12.16am (16 minutes past midnight), Gemporia's presenter hosted a Natural Amazonite" show.

During the show, the presenter claimed "we have one last show of Natural Amazonite" and "buy it now because you'll never see it again". The presenter then made further claims of "this will all be embargoed after the show because we're selling it back to the supplier we bought it from, one of Dave Troth's contacts". Interestingly, the presenter also said "I can't say this unless its true". Well, clearly the presenter can lie because on 6th June 2024, between 3pm and 4pm, the same presenter hosted another show of "Natural Amazonite". But not only was it another show of "Natural Amazonite" - but the show contained many of the exact same items that the presenter previously claimed on 29th May that it would be "will all be embargoed after the show because we're selling it back to the supplier we bought it from, one of Dave Troth's contacts". For example, product item codes NDGA97, TSER86, KQPO82, DKCJ28, HTWM54 and HBPO89 appeared in BOTH shows. At 3:32pm, the presenter said once again that "this will be the last chance you get to get this material again" - a claim that she also made on the 29th May. I am of the opinion that Gemporia intended to 'panic' people into making a quick purchase by misrepresenting that the 'Natural Amazonite' material and/or the items shown would not appear on-air again.

ASA Conclusion / Action: The ASA said "We thought you made a valid point, and so we contacted the advertiser to speak to them about making changes. The advertiser explained that there was a miscommunication by the presenter, and has provided their assurance that they are setting up new training for presenters to ensure this issue is addressed. Given the advertiser’s assurances, we will now close our file on an informal basis. Basic information including the company name, the industry sector and the medium in which the ad appeared will appear on our website, www.asa.org.uk, in due course in a list with other advertisers that have co-operated in resolving complaints. I do hope that this outcome is satisfactory to you, and finally I’d like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to write to us and bring this matter to our attention and for your patience whilst we considered the issues raised."

There are more, which I will post over the next day or two.

I remember complaining a few times to them some years ago, regarding another shopping channel and their selling tactics. I remember it took weeks for a reply and then, little was done. The last time I complained, it seemed an age till I heard anything and when I did hear, it was to say they apologised but they had forgotten about my complaint.

I never bothered after that and the channels seem to get away with anything they like. My way of dealing with it is to not buy anything from them ever again.

You will most definitely have to give up your real name for this, I'm guessing we've both been out to place for so long we no longer have to abide by any NDA in those contracts. But you'd need to prepare for the well paid lawyers to have a pop.

shugglepop said:

You will most definitely have to give up your real name for this, I'm guessing we've both been out to place for so long we no longer have to abide by any NDA in those contracts. But you'd need to prepare for the well paid lawyers to have a pop.

Click to expand...

You've lost me? I have no issue with giving my real name. The ASA have had it numerous times whenever I've referred something to them.

NDA? Not sure what an NDA has anything to do with getting the ASA to actually serve a purpose.

Lawyers? What are they going to do, and for whom? Nothing posted is false or libellous, so they'd be completely wasting their time.

You can report this, silver ruby rings screened as gold on image, marked up x 4 during auction from normal price. Price fluctuations like this must be illegal in the UK, surely!

Jojo1 said:

You can report this, silver ruby rings screened as gold on image, marked up x 4 during auction from normal price. Price fluctuations like this must be illegal in the UK, surely!

2.50ct Kenyan Ruby Sterling Silver Ring

2.50ct Kenyan Ruby Sterling Silver Ring

www.gemporia.com

Click to expand...

What's stopping you from reporting it?

TheManWithNoName said:

What's stopping you from reporting it?

Click to expand...

I’m in Australia