As some may be aware, although Highland Titles use the Scottish place name Glencoe very extensively in their advertising material, they have no real connection to Glencoe. The nearest land they own to Glencoe is some miles away in Duror, which could not by any reasonable measure we can think of, be described as Glencoe.
It didn't surprise us when an Advertising Standards Agency complaint claiming that Highland Titles had been advertising their land as being "in Glencoe" was upheld. According to the complaint this type of advert appeared on search results on two search engines, Dogpile and Yahoo.
In fact it was much more extensive than that. similar adverts were also observed on Google "Buy a Piece of Glencoe" and on Bing "Buy A Plot in Glencoe", and on duckduckgo "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on AOL "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on Webcrawler "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on Ask Jeeves "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on Contenko "Buy a Piece of Glencoe".
It's pretty clear that at one time, Highland Titles adverts via multiple agencies incorrectly indicated that consumers could buy a plot from them "in Glencoe" or "of Glencoe" when that was not, and still is not true.
It is disappointing to discover that even after the ASA ruling, they are still doing the same thing. Below is an advert seen via a Google search on 27 November 2017 reading, "Official Highland Titles® - Buy Your Plot In Glencoe Today"
Also, on Amazon, on a Highland Titles advert seen on 14th November 2017, members of the public can apparently buy "....10 Square Foot Plot of Land in Lochaber Plus 1 Square Foot in Glencoe". The square foot plot is not in Glencoe.
Highland Titles seller Kilts Wi Hae based in Aberdeenshire advertises Highland Titles plots on Amazon, the advert headline starts "Glencoe Scottish Land Plot", The plots are not in Glencoe.
No Highland Titles land plots to which customers can obtain some sort of contract of personal rights (souvenir plots in Scotland cannot be owned), are in Glencoe. Yet even after an ASA complaint on the matter has been upheld, some Highland Titles advertising and that of at least one third party seller still indicates they are.
The local council address record for Highland Titles in Duror from onesotlandgazetteer is as below. The word "Glencoe" is not in it at all anywhere.
We can't think this would be the action of any morally responsible organisation. For a company which is apparently owned by an Alderney registered charity and run by trustees of that charity, we think it pretty disgraceful behaviour.
It didn't surprise us when an Advertising Standards Agency complaint claiming that Highland Titles had been advertising their land as being "in Glencoe" was upheld. According to the complaint this type of advert appeared on search results on two search engines, Dogpile and Yahoo.
In fact it was much more extensive than that. similar adverts were also observed on Google "Buy a Piece of Glencoe" and on Bing "Buy A Plot in Glencoe", and on duckduckgo "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on AOL "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on Webcrawler "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on Ask Jeeves "Buy a Piece of Glencoe", and on Contenko "Buy a Piece of Glencoe".
It's pretty clear that at one time, Highland Titles adverts via multiple agencies incorrectly indicated that consumers could buy a plot from them "in Glencoe" or "of Glencoe" when that was not, and still is not true.
It is disappointing to discover that even after the ASA ruling, they are still doing the same thing. Below is an advert seen via a Google search on 27 November 2017 reading, "Official Highland Titles® - Buy Your Plot In Glencoe Today"
Also, on Amazon, on a Highland Titles advert seen on 14th November 2017, members of the public can apparently buy "....10 Square Foot Plot of Land in Lochaber Plus 1 Square Foot in Glencoe". The square foot plot is not in Glencoe.
Highland Titles seller Kilts Wi Hae based in Aberdeenshire advertises Highland Titles plots on Amazon, the advert headline starts "Glencoe Scottish Land Plot", The plots are not in Glencoe.
No Highland Titles land plots to which customers can obtain some sort of contract of personal rights (souvenir plots in Scotland cannot be owned), are in Glencoe. Yet even after an ASA complaint on the matter has been upheld, some Highland Titles advertising and that of at least one third party seller still indicates they are.
The local council address record for Highland Titles in Duror from onesotlandgazetteer is as below. The word "Glencoe" is not in it at all anywhere.
HIGHLAND TITLES NATURE RESERVE, DUROR
We can't think this would be the action of any morally responsible organisation. For a company which is apparently owned by an Alderney registered charity and run by trustees of that charity, we think it pretty disgraceful behaviour.
