Pubsite to clean up act in wake of OFT probe

by John Harrington

The firm behind an on-line pub directory, which made misleading guarantees to licensees of coaches full of customers, has promised to clean up its act, following an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The OFT began its probe into Pubsite after complaints from a number of licensees, who accused the company of making false promises.

Angry hosts, who contacted the Morning Advertiser last year, said they were charged a £500 lump sum, or an initial payment of £200 followed by a monthly fee of £47, to be included on the website www.pubsites.co.uk.

The website allows punters to search for specific types of pubs across the country.

Pubsite told the licensees that they would arrange for coaches, filled with tourists, to visit their pub each month. But hosts said no coaches ever arrived.

The OFT said Pubsite has agreed to change its ways of complying with the Control of Misleading Advertisements Reg-ulations Act.

The OFT said: "The OFT believed that these claims [of guaranteeing coaches] were misleading in that they gave a false impression of the promotional services that Pubsite would provide.

"[Pubsite] has agreed that it will not in future make misleading claims that Pubsite will arrange for a certain number of coach parties each month to visit public houses that sign up to the Pubsite website when this is not in fact the case."

The OFT said it would seek a High Court injunction if Pubsite breaks the undertakings. "Failure to obey a court injunction could result in proceedings for contempt of court," the OFT said.

The case was passed to the OFT by trading standards officers in Trafford, Manchester, who were alerted to the company by Andrew Abbott, licensee at the Coppertops pub in Worcester.