CityPost to withdraw '20% cheaper' claim

INDEPENDENT MAIL delivery company CityPost has agreed to “temporarily withdraw” advertisements that claim its charges are up …

INDEPENDENT MAIL delivery company CityPost has agreed to “temporarily withdraw” advertisements that claim its charges are up to 20 per cent cheaper than An Post after the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) recently upheld two complaints by the State-owned postal company.

This ruling by the ASAI was made public in September but CityPost continued to run its radio adverts until yesterday.

In a statement issued to The Irish Times,Oliver Durkin, business development manager at CityPost, said: "CityPost came to an intermediate agreement with the ASAI to continue advertising until we met to discuss the matter.

“Following a meeting yesterday [October 6th], we have temporarily withdrawn these specific ads out of respect to the ASAI.

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“We are in the process of compiling all the relevant data which supports our advertising claims for the ASAI to review,” the statement added.

Last night, CityPost’s website continued to carry the claim that its prices are up to 20 per cent cheaper.

An Post made two complaints relating to claims made by CityPost on its website and in radio adverts that it was up to 20 per cent cheaper than the state-owned company for mail delivery.

An Post also complained that CityPost was comparing its discounted prices with the State company’s headline prices.

The ASAI’s complaints committee concluded CityPost had not “provided substantiation” for its claim.

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times