A quit-smoking programme promises results: what should you check before paying?

01

Start with an offer you can hold still

Everything in this example is invented: the advertiser, documents, numbers, study and prices. A page sells a single 90-minute workshop for 200 price units. Its headline says ‘95% quit permanently’, with ‘government registered’ and ‘money back’ beside the purchase button. Save the public wording and date; do not substitute the gentler wording you wish it had used.

Ask for the workshop outline, complete cited study, registration record and full purchase terms. These are four different documents. A seller answering only with testimonials or a logo has not answered the questions. Record ‘not supplied’ rather than assuming the missing research either proves benefit or does not exist.

02

Follow the 95% back to what was counted

The fictional seller supplies records for all 100 purchasers in an earlier cohort: five requested a refund within its deadline and 95 did not. The calculation is 95 ÷ 100 = 95%. It measures absence of a refund request during that period, not smoking status. The records contain no smoking assessment of those 95 people.

Some may have quit and some may not; neither number can be recovered from these records. Do not invent a reason for non-claiming. The finding is narrower: the supplied calculation does not substantiate the headline. A refund promise cannot fill in a missing outcome, follow-up or assessment method.

03

Does the study test what is actually for sale?

In the invented study, 100 adults received the workshop plus four later consultations. All 100 were assessed at six months; 22 reported no smoking in the preceding seven days. There was no comparison group. That report describes an observed outcome after the whole package. It does not isolate the workshop's effect, show how the same people would have done without it or establish permanent abstinence.

The item in the checkout is only the workshop. Ask whether the four consultations are included, who delivers them and whether any study tests the offer's exact version against a stated alternative. Do not turn the mismatch into evidence that consultations alone work, or into proof that the workshop cannot work. The independent effect claimed for the sold item remains unestablished.

04

A registration number needs a subject and a purpose

The fictional register entry identifies a business; it says nothing about cessation outcomes. Check who issued the number, what object it covers and what decision it actually records. A company, practitioner, device and medicine are not interchangeable subjects. Ask for the original entry, not a badge copied into an advertisement.

For a US claim, FDA approval or clearance must be checked for the named product and intended use; it cannot simply be lent to a course containing that product. FTC guidance addresses exaggeration of FDA status. These US sources do not determine authorization elsewhere, and this exercise cannot declare the offer lawful or unlawful worldwide.

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05

Read the guarantee as a contract, then stop at the gaps

The invented terms require attending two repeat workshops before a refund claim within 30 days. They also list a support subscription at 30 price units per month, without saying whether checkout enrolls the buyer automatically. The headline price is visible; the total commitment and cancellation path are not. Request a written answer about optional enrolment, renewal, cancellation, refund requirements and any extra attendance or travel cost before payment.

Your completed audit is: the 95% arithmetic is verified but its smoking interpretation is unsupported; the study measures a different bundle and shorter outcome than the promise; the register does not substantiate effectiveness; the subscription decision is unresolved. That is enough to pause buying. It is not a diagnosis of the seller's motives or a clinical verdict. Check who funded the cited research and who controls the sales page as additional context, not an automatic true/false switch.

06

Use the right route for a dispute or a personal question

For UK advertising concerns, the ASA explains which advertisements it covers and how to complain; it is not a general refund service. Keep the public ad, dated terms and seller's response for the appropriate consumer or advertising route in your actual country. Read that recipient's privacy notice and provide the facts it requires through its official channel; a complaint does not guarantee recovery or enforcement.

This page has no input form. Do not post smoking history, medicines, symptoms, payment details or identifiable screenshots here or publicly to check a claim. A competent complaint body may legitimately need personal transaction details: that is separate from publishing them. For individual cessation decisions in the UK, NHS service information provides local support routes; elsewhere use qualified local care, not the advertisement or this audit.

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07

What to keep in mind

• Follow each claim to the document that could support that specific claim.
• Not requesting a refund is not a smoking outcome.
• You may pause a purchase without making a global legal accusation.