ASA raps rixbets.com over misleading advert

Rixbets.com has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority following complaints over a misleading print advert from August 2017.

The offending advertisement read “Outstanding results in the last 16 months… £34,970 PROFIT. An extraordinary 62% PROFIT on investment and an incredible tax-free profit of £492 per week.”

Small print below the main advertisement said “(All bets at just £100 per point at advised prices or SP – total stake 9/4/16 to 19/8/17 = £56,000).”

A complainant to the ASA challenged whether the claim over the high profit levels stated in the advertisement were misleading and could be substantiated.

In response, Racing 4 Profit Ltd, which trades as rixbets.com asserted that the information was presented clearly, noting that the stake requirement of £100, the time period in which profits were accrued of 16 months and the overall total staked of £56,000 were all clearly visible.

Additionally, it explained its proofing process, with all bets being proofed by Racing Post and confirming that all its bets were independently audited by a firm of solicitors.

Racing 4 Profit provided detailed spreadsheets which listed all the bets made in the referenced 16-month period, including the race date, name of horse, points staked, odds and the number of points won/lost.

However, the ASA upheld the complaint, ruling that it was “concerned that the ad did not make sufficiently clear the amount a consumer would be required to stake to achieve the £34,970 profit.”

It added that “the spreadsheet showed that there were periods of several weeks at a time when no races had been won but significant amounts had been staked. We therefore considered that the ad gave a misleading impression that consumers would achieve a weekly profit of approximately £492, when that was not the case.”