Infomercial con/misrepresentation?

[KRUSTYMAN]

I recently purchased an item from a well known TV infomercial channel. When the item arrived it was at least half the size of the items that were used for demonstration in the commercial. I can see this as fact because there are so many points of reference in the commercial which show these items to be larger than the items for sale. I have contacted the company and they say that they do not state the dimensions in the ad and therefore they are not in breach of any English law and that because of this I would have no case if I brought it to the attention of the ASA. Surely showing and demonstrating an item to be larger than the one they're selling is misrepresentation

[hc4361]

Under the Distance Selling Regs most purchases bought online, by phone or mail order can be returned for a full refund. You must inform the company within 7 days of your intention to return the goods, and do so as soon as is practicable.

[KRUSTYMAN]

I have no problem getting a refund, I think they want me to take the refund and to carry on showing the misleading commercial. I'm more concerned that they are 'lying' to potential customers about the goods they are selling. Whilst not encouraging me to go to the ASA with my complaint they are telling me that the ASA wouldn't agree with me. I am more than willing to go to the ASA but I thought I would sound out a few fellow ABer's first.

[hc4361]

No harm in reporting it to ASA. What is the item?

[sara3]

I'm call Trading Standards and see what they think.

sounds iffy to me..

[KRUSTYMAN]

This is a 'respectable' company. The product is an orthopaedic pillow. In the ad you see two people lying side by side in a double bed and the pillows used in the ad are 'full size' pillows as you would expect on a double bed. The pillows that I received would sit side by side on a single bed. They also show a quad bike sitting on top to show how durable they are. When the quad wheel is sitting on the pillows there is still a good three to four inches of pillow standing proud either side of the wheel. I've checked and even the smallest quad bike wheel/tyre is the exact width of the pillows so I know there's a case of misrepresentation here at the very least.

[hc4361]

Trading Standards and ASA. Things like pillows one would assume to be of the standard size, unless specifically told they are non-standard. After all, when buying pillow cases you don't check the sizes.

[padanarm]

There was a recent complaint to the ASA over a DFS advert where the actors were 'shrunk' to make their sofas look bigger than they were.

Read ASA adjudication against DFS Trading.

[Gmcd01]

There is no requirement that a company must state a product's dimensions before an offence be committed. Do you remember that 99p snack-thing that KFC sold? The adverts were pulled after consumers claimed (successfully) that KFC's adverts overstated its size. (You'll be amazed what you learn with intellectual property!)
Also, do you recall when McDonald's sold the 'Chinese' food to coincide with the Olympics? If you recall the advert with the spring roll, they made VERY sure to show the spring roll in relation to a man's finger (as he caught it in midair) to show approximate size and avoid the same pitfall.