Advertising in pounds. Illegal?

Khannie

So I got stung today. I ordered a set of kettlebells from elverys. Only when I'd seen the "shipping" status did I notice that they were in pounds, not kilos.

At first I thought - Who the hell measures in pounds???? Then I checked their site. It's the only set in pounds. All other kettlebells are in kilos.

Then I thought I remembered it's illegal to sell in imperial units in the EU. Is that correct?

I found this article on the BBC website which seems to confirm that.

Cabaal

Not sure about legality, but when was the last time you asked a bar man for 473ml of beer or heard it advertised as a nice cool 437ml of Guinness?

Kerrygold still have ounces mentioned on the packaging (as well as grams) so seems they still can based on this,

Khannie

If you buy a pint bottle in the supermarket it's advertised in ml, not as a pint. If I buy anything, anywhere by weight it is in KG, not pounds.

(in response to the ninja edit: I think it's OK to mention imperial once you give metric)

The long and short of it is that if you're buying a set of weights, you expect KG, not pounds. There's a big 15 on the front. Not for a second did I think that meant 15 pounds.

L1011

Cabaal wrote: »

Not sure about legality, but when was the last time you asked a bar man for 473ml of beer or heard it advertised as a nice cool 437ml of Guinness?

Sometime they in the US, I'd imagine :pac:

(wrong pint)

Tow

Incorrect. The 'authorities' in the UK said is was illegal to sell items (fruit/veg etc) by any other unit than Grams and Kilograms, i.e. shops could not use 'Pounds and Ounces'. A fortune was spent by shops upgrading their equipment.
But when they actually tried to bring some shopkeepers to court, is was quickly discovered that the 'law' did not exist!

Actually here is more detail in a long winded case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_Martyrs

Khannie

Have you a (recent) link to that? I'm pretty sure you must label metric (but can also label imperial). Any searching I've done confirms this.

Khannie

Turns out the "dispatched" email didn't mean it was actually dispatched. The order has been cancelled. I'm still interested in this as I felt it was incredibly misleading.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I don't think there is anything in Irish law concerning this.

All the kettle bells on Elvery's site are clearly shown as either Kg or Lb. It's not as though they are advertising one as the other or misleading in their product descriptions.

snaps

Cabaal wrote: »

Not sure about legality, but when was the last time you asked a bar man for 473ml of beer or heard it advertised as a nice cool 437ml of Guinness?

Isn't a pint 568mll?

Stheno

snaps wrote: »

Isn't a pint 568mll?

in metric its 473 in imperial (us)

L1011

Stheno wrote: »

in metric its 473 in imperial (us)

US uses US Customary Units not Imperial units.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Stheno wrote: »

in metric its 473 in imperial (us)

You can't have imperial (us). It's either Imperial or US.

One imperial pint is 568ml while one US pint is 473ml. Not that you'd be asking a barman for a US Pint in this country.

Khannie

Finley Tender Tooth wrote: »

I don't think there is anything in Irish law concerning this.

All the kettle bells on Elvery's site are clearly shown as either Kg or Lb. It's not as though they are advertising one as the other or misleading in their product descriptions.

Oh it's labeled as 30lb. No disputing that. I missed that because:
1) Nothing is labeled in pounds any more so I didn't check the unit
2) In all my years I have never seen any weightlifting products sold in Ireland in pounds
3) All the other kettlebells are measured in KG
4) The most prominent thing on the page regarding that set are the large numbers which, in the EU, you expect to be KG.

Basically, I expected KG and I'm not the only one (I know someone else who ordered them thinking they were KG too). If they were going to sell pounds, I think they should have put up both units to avoid any confusion.

Khannie

Well I mailed them and they got back to me. They're updating the product description. Fair play.

whippet

It is a little misleading alright, but in the US Kettlebells are all about pounds and never once have I heard anything but KGs mentioned in ireland.

Mind you ... a 15lb kettlebell is practically a useless item, better off wearing a big wristwatch when training !!

emeldc

whippet wrote: »

It is a little misleading alright, but in the US Kettlebells are all about pounds and never once have I heard anything but KGs mentioned in ireland.

Mind you ... a 15lb kettlebell is practically a useless item, better off wearing a big wristwatch when training !!

15lbs useless? Over a stone? What kind of a wristwatch do you have?

weisses

Maybe this is of use

http://www.metric.org.uk/myths/consumer-protection

Khannie

emeldc wrote: »

15lbs useless? Over a stone? What kind of a wristwatch do you have?

Honestly 15lb's for a kettlebell is at the very, very low end. For a man who isn't very unfit it would feel like a total waste of effort. I'm not a big guy at all and I'm currently using more than twice that when I go to the gym.

L1011

weisses wrote: »

Maybe this is of use

http://www.metric.org.uk/myths/consumer-protection

Considering it deals with UK rules, not hugely.

whippet

Khannie wrote: »

Honestly 15lb's for a kettlebell is at the very, very low end. For a man who isn't very unfit it would feel like a total waste of effort. I'm not a big guy at all and I'm currently using more than twice that when I go to the gym.

most proper kettlebell course will start men off on a 16kg / 35lb (12kg min) ... working up to 24kg/28kg/32kg in a couple of months.

TheDriver

am I the only one who thought this thread was going to be about sterling??

dudara

Posters - stick to the topic please. No discussion on exercise merits or SI/Imperial/US units of measure.

dudara