Virgin Slurred by ASA Over ‘Spam’ Emails

An interesting complaint has been filed by one of the Virgin Media customer to the UK Advertising Standard Authority (ASA). The complainant accused TV, quad-play broadband ISP, phone and mobile provider that they sent him undesired marketing communications through e-mail (spam).

The complaint actually challenged the breaching of CAP code by the advertisement because the customer had earlier requested to Virgin Media not to send marketing communication through e-mails. Similar situations are experienced by many others with different companies not only ISPs. It has been noticed that when people check the inbox, they find promotional emails which sent to them.

The security experts state that Virgin Media have ignored to understand the answer "NO" which actually means "NO". The ASA has had to rap them over the knuckles for their lack of respect for their subscribers' privacy.

Virgin said in response that an e-mail was forwarded to inform people that Virgin Mobile had become part of the Virgin Media Group. Hence, the company sent the e-mail to customers who would like to receive marketing communications when they came across the news.

They added that the e-mail was not a marketing communication. It didn't contain calls to action characteristic. They were required to make an announcement to customers in case they were not familiar with the press announcements and would not have been informed through marketing communications. The company further said that they could contact the customer under the Data Protection Act in infrequent situations. The situations could be where the businesses should ensure that data remained updated and accurate.

However, the ASA found that the email not only informed customers about the changes, but also mentioned incentives such as " ... you can get your hands on even more exclusive deals", "As a thank you, you'll be entered into our prize draw to win a free HTC HD2* phone ..." and "What great stuff could you be missing out on?". The advertising authority agreed to the fact that the email was an unwanted spam.

Hence, the ASA informed Virgin Media that such ad should not be allowed to appear in the current form and also told not to send spam emails especially to the customers who have requested to opt out.

Related article: Virginia - Top Spammer Challenges the anti-spam Law

» SPAMfighter News - 8/11/2010