The mail order clothing company Damart has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a mailing that was misleading and untruthful.

The mailing from Damart apologised for the customer not receiving a £3 cheque, which Damart knew full well had never been sent. It told the customer that on this occasion the Managing Director had personally intervened to approve a £5 cheque as compensation. Quite obviously the Managing Director could not have intervened as there was no cheque sent in the first place. The "cheques" too were not what they seemed - in fact they were simply discount vouchers.

It says little for Damart's opinion of their customers that they told the ASA that "the recipients were used to buying products by mail order and were aware of the promotional techniques used in direct mailings" and that "most recipients would be pleased with the offer". Damart later suggested that their customers would see straight through the untrue claims that were made, making us wonder what the point was of ever making them.

The ASA has advised Damart not to repeat the approach and to consult them before making future mailings.