Postmistress may sue Natwest over advert

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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A village postmistress is considering legal action against NatWest claiming that its latest television advert implies she uses the bank rather than services provided at her own branch.


By Richard Savill
Published: 2:17PM BST 25 Aug 2009

Ilona Lapka, 48, does not feature in the advert but she said the commercial could lead people to believe she closed her store early to “nip” to NatWest.

She said she was not consulted about the advert which features a mobile bank service, conducted from a NatWest van, visiting customers near her store in Dunsford, Devon.

In the advert, a blonde woman says to a NatWest staff member: “I just pop up to the end of the road and look up to see if you’re there yet, and when you are I can just shut the shop and nip up.”

But Miss Lapka, who runs the only shop in Dunsford, said she was never consulted about the advertisement and was considering legal action on the grounds of misrepresentation.

She said her shop offered a banking service and to suggest she would close to visit NatWest was “ridiculous” and damaging to her trade. She banked with Alliance and Leicester through her own post office.

She said: “The advert features my village and a woman claiming to run the local shop saying she is closing to visit a NatWest.

”I run the only shop here. There is only one shop in the village and that is mine and I don’t even bank with NatWest.

”I have made inquiries because I don’t think a big bank should do this without asking me first. It is misrepresentation. I don’t bank with NatWest, never have and never would.

”I bank with Alliance and Leicester because I can run both my personal and business accounts through the post office. And it is not just that I object, my customers do too.”

The Dunsford Post Office and Stores can be seen in the background as the NatWest mobile bank pulls into the high street.

Miss Lapka said the mobile bank visited the village for two hours each week, and the woman who plays the role of the shopkeeper in the advertisement could be mistaken for her or one of her own post office workers.

She added that when she complained the bank told her the woman was a “genuine customer”. But she said no one in Dunsford (pop 688) recognised her.

Malcolm Colegate, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said NatWest was guilty of harming Miss Lapka’s business.

He said: “It’s a total misrepresentation of her situation. People do recognise local areas and it’s likely to cause a downturn in local trade.”

NatWest said: “It is not necessarily a misrepresentation of Dunsford. The mobile bank is there for the benefit of the community.”

[andy2007]

So she's a Nat West Mobile Bank Customer. But from where?
Does she run a Shop anywhere?
And why is she depicted as coming from one particular area, when none of the Locals recognise her?