AN AWARD-WINNING house-building company has been reported to the advertising watchdog for telling potential home-owners the journey from Dunfermline to Edinburgh takes just 15 MINUTES.
Redrow have landed themselves in hot water with the Advertising Standards Authority for trying to cut the travelling time from the Fife town to the capital.
The line appeared in the company’s spring/summer ’09 brochure and was spotted by an irate commuter who claimed the only way to make the journey in that time would be to make the trip “in a helicopter”.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: “When I first saw it I thought ‘that’s inaccurate’. It’s a physical impossibility unless you get a helicopter,
“As anyone knows, how can you get to the centre of Edinburgh in that time? It takes that long to get to Inverkeithing train station just a couple of miles away some mornings.
“They are most unscrupulous when they are trying to flog things. The brochures are sent nationwide, so you could get someone who is going to work in Edinburgh moving here based on what they have said.”
The Dunfermline man also revealed the home builders had bungled further by mixing up the names and addresses of prospective customers when they sent the brochures out.
He added: “It was sent to everyone in the estate, but they got the names wrong – my wife found she was suddenly living with another lady.
“They apologised about that mistake, saying it was problem with their mailing list, but not for the error in the brochure.”
According the AA’s online route planner it takes at least 32 minutes to travel from Dunfermline to Edinburgh by car.
A spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority said: “This case is being informally investigated, but until we get through the full process we can’t comment beyond that at the moment.”
The house company has been awarded a string of awards last years including Housebuilding Innovator of the Year, Best International Redevelopment Award and Best First Time Buyer Development.
A spokesperson for Redrow said: “This was a genuine mistake and as soon as we were alerted to it we took steps to correct the information.
“All the relevant literature was removed without delay.”
