An online garden furniture retailer has been reprimanded by the ad watchdog for saying a product was in stock when it wasn't - even though that was beyond its control.
Select Furnishings' website, www.selectfurnishings.co.uk, stated that its Maze rattan rounded sofa set was in stock, but a customer complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that when he placed an order he was told that that was not the case.

Select Furnishings, of Failsworth, Manchester, explained that when the customer had placed his order it believed the item was in stock. However, in the time between the order being received and then forwarded by Select Furnishings to its supplier, the supplier had in fact sold out of the item.

Select Furnishings said this situation was unavoidable, but that when it did arise it offered an immediate refund to a consumer or gave them an option to change their order.

However, the ASA said a consumer would be unaware that when they ordered a product described as being 'in stock' there was a risk that it was not because it was coming from a third-party supplier. The ad was therefore misleading, decided the ASA, which told Select Furnishings to make it clear to consumers when a product was unavailable or stocks limited.