Advert banned

Five months after freezing temperatures led to a breakdown in train service between England and France, Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel has been slapped on the wrist for claiming it provides fast service to France, regardless of the weather.

The United Kingdom's regulatory Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that Eurotunnel's e-mail promotion with the title "France in just 35 minutes" was deceptive because it claimed it could provide the service "whatever the weather," and it banned the company from broadcasting the ad again.

The ruling reportedly came after a customer, who was stranded at the Eurotunnel check-in for hours because of snowfall, complained to authorities.

The company defended its ad by saying its 2009 average crossing time between the two countries for passenger and freight rail was 34.81 minutes, and that a "reasonable consumer would not take an absolute view of the claim 'whatever the weather.'"

It also acknowledged that five Eurostar trains broke down because of poor weather last December, but the company countered that Eurostar was an entirely separate company and that Eurotunnel shuttles through the Channel Tunnel continued despite the disruption.

Finally, the weather conditions during the disruption were "very unusual, in the same way that a hurricane or tsunami was," the company said.

However the ASA was not convinced and found that cold weather was not comparable to such natural disasters.

"It was, therefore, possible that the weather would again affect Eurotunnel journeys in the future," the ASA ruling said." We concluded that the claim had not been substantiated and was misleading."

acb/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Rob Turner