The ASA has upheld another ruling against a promoter for failing to communicate the terms and conditions of a promotion adequately.  

The CAP Code states that promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such information was likely to mislead. Significant conditions may, depending on the circumstances, include information about how to participate and a closing date.

In April 2024, the website www.geoffbanks.bet stated “FOR THE MISSUS: Place a bet on the Aintree Grand National and get a free £10 bet on the Scottish Grand National”.

Further text stated, “Geoff Banks will award a £10 free bet for use on the Scottish Grand National if you wager on the Aintree Grand National. Minimum Qualifying Wage is £10 win or £5 each way. Qualifying wager can win or lose. Bets placed prior to 3pm on Saturday 13th April qualify for this offer. Previous Free bet stakes awarded do not count as qualifying wagers. Free bet will be credited to your account by Saturday 20th of April.”

The complainant was unable to redeem the promotion and complained to the ASA, challenging if the ad breached the CAP Code because it omitted significant conditions of the promotion.

The ASA upheld the complaint. 

GB Sports Advisors Ltd t/a Geoff Banks Online believed all the key terms were clear in the original ad and in follow up communications to participants.  The bet had to placed by 5pm on 19 April 2024. The complainant did not reply until the following day, after the promotion had ended. According to the promoter, other entrants had followed all relevant entry criteria and had duly been credited with a £10 free bet.  They sent a text message to participants on 15 April 2024 which stated how to claim the free bet. A follow-up email was sent on 17 April 2024 that further explained how to claim the free bet and detailed that the bet had to be placed by 5 pm on 19 April 2024.  The ad was later changed to include the closing date.  

But the ASA disagreed that the terms were clear.  The ad did not originally state that consumers would receive a text message, nor that they had to respond to it by a certain time and date. These were significant conditions which were likely to affect consumers’ understanding of the promotion and their decision to participate. Therefore, the ASA considered their omission was likely to mislead and should have been presented clearly in the ad itself at the start of the promotion.

This meant that the ad breached rules 8.2, 8.17, 8.17.1, 8.17.4 and 8.17.4.a  of the CAP Code on promotional marketing.

If you are running a promotion, it is really important to make sure that the key terms are set out at the outset, especially those which relate to eligibility and how to enter.