Asda has played down the significance of amending its 10% Asda Price Guarantee press ads, which now feature a prominent asterix next to the word ‘guarantee’.

The amended advertisements, which ran in the national press this week, are the first to appear since Asda capped APG vouchers to £15. The asterisked footnote spells out this cap, introduced after shoppers exploited Asda’s malfunctioning website to claim vouchers totalling thousands of pounds over a four-week period.

Last week, The Grocer revealed the ASA had already received one complaint from the public. The Grocer understands the complaint argued that by limiting payouts, Asda could no longer fulfil its promise to be 10% cheaper than rivals 100% of the time, and could therefore no longer offer an absolute ‘guarantee’.

The ASA said it was assessing if there were grounds for the complaint. It is expected to reach a decision by the end of next week. If the ASA upholds the complaint, Asda could be forced to stop using the word ‘guarantee’.

“We like to be clear with our customers and are referencing a point that we communicated when we introduced the cap,” said a spokeswoman for Asda.

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