Genesis Energy strengthens Ts and Cs following complaint to ASA

A Genesis Energy advertisement offering consumers “free electricity whenever you like” misled consumers by not making eligibility criteria clear and accessible, says the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

“We acknowledge the ASA’s decision. We want to make our terms and conditions as clear as possible for customers and have since strengthened the Ts&Cs on our website,” says a Genesis Energy spokesperson.

The website advertisement said the company’s Free Power Shout “gives you the flexibility to enjoy free electricity whenever you like” with a link to the promotion terms and conditions (Ts&Cs), Stuff reports.

Those terms and conditions said to be eligible for the promotion, “you must be an existing Genesis residential electricity customer on an eligible electricity plan”, it adds.

No definition of “an eligible electricity plan” was provided, according to Stuff.

The text “Sorry, Energy Basic customers are not eligible for Power Shout” was located further down the page under the heading “Got some questions?”, the ASA explains.

In a consumer complaint to the authority, concerns were raised about the advertisement being misleading, as it was not clear from the terms and conditions that some plans were excluded.

Genesis said all references to Power Shout on its website made it clear that eligibility criteria applied, that the Genesis website was factually correct and contained “clearly signposted” eligibility criteria.

However, the ASA’s complaints board upheld the complaint, saying it was reasonable to expect the restriction on eligibility would be included in the terms and conditions.

The ASA said relevant information about the offer was insufficiently clear or accessible and was likely to mislead and confuse consumers.

Click here for more on the ASA decision.