Advertising Standards Authority Reviews

I contacted the Advertising Standards Authority to ask how to raise a complaint about an advertising issue that is not covered on their website. They ignored my request. I contacted them a second time. They ignored my request again. To try to provoke a response from them I asked them if they did common courtesy. They ignored that message as well. I sent them a sample of what I wanted to complain about. They ignored that. To try a second time to prompt a response, I used their complaints-about-adverts process to complain about their own adverts, in which they said they valued contact about adverts and treated them seriously. This process generated a case number that they had to deal with, but they ignored that as well. Finally, I contacted them again to ask what their complaints process about themselves was. They ignored that. That's four requests for information and two digs to try to prompt a response. All six completely ignored. Rude and unprofessional, from a totally disinterested organisation. I have nowhere else to go as they police themselves. Utterly shameful and disrespectful of the organisation and its staff.

Date of experience: 22 April 2024

The ASA exists to help protect consumers but when you complain you get either

1. No response
2. A response saying that your complaint falls outside their remit.

Their catchphrase in ads is "legal, honest, decent, truthful".

Unfortunately their own adverts promoting the ASA are anything but.

Date of experience: 05 February 2024

Filled out there online complaint form,
They do not request your contact details,
What if they need further information!!!
There a scam organisation just like the company I reported,
Self regulating with no oversight
We all know how that works out,
Wasters

Date of experience: 11 September 2023

Sadly, as others have said, there's really no point to the ASA. They generally ignore complaints about adverts and on the rare occasions they do something, it's to tell a company "naughty boy, don't do it again". There are no consequences. I wonder if everyone stopped complaints, would it make the government see how pointless the ASA is and disband it, thereby getting rid of the incomes of the lazy gits who run it now?

Date of experience: 13 July 2023

crock of rubbish organisation..Tried to make a complaint but system didn't work..
please close down this pile of rubbish and get a professional organisation to take over..ASA please lock the Doors after you leave and throw away the key

Date of experience: 29 November 2023

Wasted my time contacting this authority to complain about the fact that advertisements on the TV or News Readers insist on reading a telephone number out as have the letter "o" rather than a zero or nought! Would appear that teachers are wasting their time educating children, when adults mix numbers and letters.

Date of experience: 05 January 2024

Self regulation = NO REGULATION!
Shockingly poor! Don't waste your time with them.

Their Policy is not to contact you or provide a status of complaint, just simply ignore as many others have said.

A façade of an organisation.

Look at the judgments made, only pursued if large organisation is complaining with a legal department.

Date of experience: 14 September 2021

I put a complaint in about a certain electrical company. The TV ad stupidly shows people eating paper. I said children will watch this and as they do, tend to copy what they see on TV. the ASA have also received a few hundred more complaints about the same ad. Guess what, ASA are not going to do anything about it, even though many complaints have been received. I think the ASA must be receiving back handers from this electrical company. ASA is not what they say they are, they may ban very few ads but when it's a big company and hundreds of people complain, they don't appear to be concerned one bit.dont bother contacting ASA.

Date of experience: 26 October 2023

Like many others, this journey is a waste of time. They boast how they will take action, protect the consumer blah blah blah.
A simple misleading logo on a car sales advert that makes you believe that Trading Standards have endorsed the selling company. Not so! The logo proudly states; "Approved Code Trading Standards UK".
After contacting my local Trading Standards office they inform me that this is an entirely separate group that has no legal connection with them at all.
Completely misleading and providing you with no protection at all. What an absolute joke.

Date of experience: 12 March 2019

Don’t bother investigating your complaint properly just want the easy jobs. Don’t publish details of teir informal chats meaning consumers never find out what company’s have done wrong and that they have been ripped off or scammed by the companies in question. Awful

Date of experience: 16 February 2022

It has been nearly two months since I made a complaint to which they sent a holding email saying they will be in touch. I emailed to ask for an update only to receive an automatic email saying someone was on holiday until 5/7 and to ring ASA asking for Operations Team where someone will be able to help me. How wrong was this. It took 20 minutes of Receptionist struggling to put me through and eventually she said people don't work in office on Fridays!! What a joke. So the email should have stated this as I have wasted my time.

Date of experience: 30 June 2023

what a crap agency, run by people without and common sense, lazy and corrupt. Lots of underhand payments get given to suppress complaints . Just another waste of space.

Date of experience: 14 October 2023

My rating is average because initially the ASA did pro-actively take up a complaint made against an organisation. They did cause the organisation to amend the lies on their website. However further complaints were not taken up with any enthusiasm. I don't know why, when the organisation had already been found in the wrong.

Date of experience: 25 April 2020

Absolute joke. Don't waste your time on these corrupt useless politicians. Made a complaint , said they will speak with the company that has always all the products on a fictional sale yet they didn't , and did not answer any e-mails.

Date of experience: 16 February 2022

Totally agree with the horrendous reviews on here. Sent them a complaint in good faith and received an auto response with my unique reference number.. which was blank. Flagged this to them via social media, email, DM and their own contact form. That was weeks ago. Heard nothing back and expect either that my complaint will be ignored too, or it'll be a very very long wait. I understand if they have backlogs but to be completely off grid is unacceptable. And in the meantime, they have time and the brazenness to post on Facebook!! I'll edit my review if I hear back but starting to doubt they even exist..

Date of experience: 04 July 2022

1) Did you know? Advertising Standards Authority has no right to use word Authority in their name?

2) Did you know? That there are a three (known) companies behind this scam?
Advertising Standards Authority Ltd based at Mid City Place, 71 High Holborn, London WC1V 6QT

Second company is THE ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY (BROADCAST) LIMITED

Third company is ADVERTISING STANDARDS BOARD OF FINANCE LIMITED(THE)
7TH FLOOR NORTH ARTILLERY HOUSE
11-19 ARTILLERY ROW
LONDON
UNITED KINGDOM
SW1P 1RT

All these companies are scam because they are not an authority in any way, they intimidate advertisers on a daily basis, posting false information on their web sites and have no power at all other than their website. This setup is just a limited company, Guy Parker has been Chief Executive of the ASA since June 2009. His salary for this role is £120,000. This illegal activity need to be stopped and today we are launching a petition.

Date of experience: 18 March 2013

I had vaguely heard of ASA in discussions with people when I said that a well known brand had advertised a competition on their packaging and I didn't receive the prize.

'I often bought from that company anyway.
To my surprise I was notified of a win after entering using the code on the packaging. I was notified of the prize, uploaded my receipt and information and notified of a dispatch. (August 2023)
I had no contact or information of it after that, I left it a good deal of time, I even contacted them on social media and also sent a message via their website form and again felt ignored. It looked like I wasn't the only one either, judging by some comments. It wasn't worth a huge value to some, but it was something I was excited to receive. £20 worth I'd imagine.'

Fast forward to me contacting the ASA via their online form at the beginning of the week. I got a case number not long after and a polite well written email from one of ASA's Operations Assistants informing me of their next step which was to contact the company in question on my behalf and see what they could do.

Wednesday I received a message from the company in question asking for my address to send the prize to and today (Thursday) my prize arrived at my front door. It was a full size and not a mini version as I had won, but super delighted with how everything went and with my prize in the end.

Thank you ASA for making it happen.
I've been having a bit of a tough week, so this lovely act has really helped lighten my mood, however small it may seem.

Date of experience: 25 January 2024

Complained about a company several weeks ago - this self appointed body said it could do nothing.
Found out today that a government Quango complains - immediately upholds the complaint.
MINUS 5 STARS

Date of experience: 02 December 2021

If I were you, I wouldn't even both making a complaint. I made what I considered to be a legitimate complaint about an ad I heard on the radio, which withheld an important part about the service it provided.
I never heard a word but knowing how busy they must be, left it a while before ringing ASA to follow it up.
Not only did they say that they were not interested, but they also said they no longer even acknowledge complaints they were not going to deal with.
Naturally, they gave workload and shortage of staff as the excuse.
There's more. You can't even complain about this service on their website as you have to have a reference number, which you don't have if they haven't taken up your complaint. Talk about high handedness.
I've never really been convinced by ombudsmen and the like. Indeed, I have yet to meet someone who has gained satisfaction by complaining to one.
However, to not even acknowledge a complaint is surely outside the bounds of common decency let alone being totally unprofessional.

Date of experience: 20 October 2022

Refused to update me on my case. Not sure they even investigated it.
Pointless organisation.

Date of experience: 01 March 2024