ASA Adjudication on Prestons Hillendale Ltd

Ad

A promotional SMS message was sent to the complainant.

Issue

1. The complainant challenged whether the ad breached the CAP code, because he had previously asked Hillendale Land Rover not to send him marketing communications by SMS.

2. The ASA challenged whether the SMS breached the Code because it did not include an option to opt-out.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. Hillendale Land Rover (HLR) said the message was sent to the complainant in error; old information had been used instead of the current data. They said the complainant had now been removed from their database and they had taken steps to ensure a similar error did not occur in future.

2. HLR said no future campaign would be sent without an option to opt-out.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted the message had been sent as the result of an error. We were concerned, however, that the complainant had continued to receive marketing communication by SMS from HLR despite previous requests not to receive them. We reminded HLR of the importance of ensuring that the personal details of consumers who had asked not to receive marketing communication by SMS were suppressed from their mailing lists. Because HLR had not suppressed the complainant's details as previously requested and had continued to send SMS messages to him, we concluded that they had breached the Code.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 43.9 and 43.13 (Direct marketing rules - database practice).

2. Upheld

We noted the ad did not include an option to opt-out of future marketing by SMS; we therefore concluded that it breached the Code.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 43.4c (Direct marketing rules - database practice).

Action

We told HLR to ensure their mailing lists were accurate and up-to-date and SMS messages were not sent to recipients who had asked not to receive them.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)