Adjudications and Informally Resolved Complaints Archive
Older adjudications and informally resolved complaints.
The DMC investigated complaints from two businesses who had ordered a door drop delivery. Neither complainants were satisfied that the deliveries had been carried out adequately and they had both described their relationship with the member as strongly lacking in terms of engagement, responses and assurance that their leaflets had been delivered. In the materials […]
This investigation centred on five complaints received against Fulcio Marketing, a Business to Business direct marketing company. The complainants raised alleged failures to supply data in conformity with orders; misleading actions in supplying education sector data that proved to be sourced by a Freedom of Information request; claims for repeat annual payments for data that […]
This investigation related to a complaint regarding a consumer who, despite being registered on the Telephone Preference Service, was contacted by a legal services company seeking to sell its services. This call was made after the person called had been identified as someone who had consented to future marketing during a lifestyle survey call made […]
This investigation related to complaints received from two individuals whose TPS registered numbers were contacted by DLG to undertake a survey for lead generation purposes. DLG had obtained the details from two off-shore call centres who were themselves carrying out lead generation surveys for a number of clients including DLG. These call centres were, in […]
Hollywood Marketing has resigned its DMA membership by agreement between it and the DMA following an incomplete adjudication process. The DMA will be making no further comment publicly or privately on the case.
Please note that the Commission investigates complaints against DMA members involving breaches of the DMA Code. Any adjudication is based solely on compliance with the DMA Code and it does not, and cannot make comment on the lawfulness or not of the members’ actions. This case centred on the supply of data of over 2 […]
Please note that the Commission investigates complaints against DMA members involving breaches of the DMA Code. Any adjudication is based solely on compliance with the DMA Code and it does not, and cannot make comment on the lawfulness or not of the members’ actions. This case centred on the supply of data of over 2 […]
Please note that the Commission investigates complaints against DMA members involving breaches of the DMA Code. Any adjudication is based solely on compliance with the DMA Code and it does not, and cannot make comment on the lawfulness or not of the members’ actions. This case centred on the supply of data of over 2 […]
This case looked at the concerns raised by a single complainant who had been in receipt of a number of unwanted emails where the sender email addresses had seemingly been created to give the impression the messages were coming from well-known legitimate businesses and the email content was unrelated to those businesses. The complainant had […]
This case was referred to the Commission from the Direct Marketing Association following a recent investigation undertaken by the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB) into a complaint from a TPS registered consumer who had received an unwanted call from Insight CCI, a telemarketer fundraising on behalf of Breast Cancer Campaign. PDV Ltd, acting as a broker, […]
The Direct Marketing Association had asked the Commission to consider the circumstances around the buying and selling of alleged sensitive financial data by B2C Data Ltd. This followed articles in The Daily Mail which alleged that B2C Data Ltd was selling data on the pension and financial details of thousands of people without knowing the […]
The Direct Marketing Association had asked the Commission to consider the circumstances around the buying and selling of alleged ‘financial and medical’ data by Data Bubble. This followed articles in The Daily Mail which alleged that Data Bubble was selling or renting data on the pension and medical details of thousands of people without knowing […]
In the light of a recent penalty imposed by the Information Commissioner’s Office for calls about PPI claims made to registrants on the Telephone Preference Service, the Direct Marketing Association asked the Commission to consider the circumstances surrounding this ruling and, in so doing, to advise DMA on EMCAS and their continuing membership of the […]
The Direct Marketing Commission had received a complaint against L-EV8 Marketing from a consumer who had unwittingly signed up over two years previously to membership of their Pound Savers club. The club offer retail and other discounts and deals. Membership of this particular club is annual with an annual membership fee. When the complaint was […]
The Direct Marketing Commission had received two complaints against Consumer Lifestyles, a trading name of Data Locator Group (DLG) from consumers who were registered on the Telephone Preference Service. The Commission was asked to consider whether the company was complying with rules regarding calls to those registered with the TPS, whether there were issues in […]
An adjudication against Reactiv Media in October 2013, described concerns which had been raised by TPS registered consumers in relation to calls about PPI received from Reactiv Media, who were describing themselves as ‘a Consumer Helpline’. The Commission formally reprimanded the company and reminded it of its obligations under the Direct Marketing Code, and asked […]
This complaint from a business related to a data order for 1000 records which had not met the criteria requested. The data provided did not include essential address or telephone details and replacement data offered in compensation appeared similarly incomplete, inaccurate or out of date. Maximum Impact did not provide the Commission with a response […]
The Direct Marketing Commission had received several complaints against this company over the period from April to September. Concerns had been raised in relation to calls received from Reactiv Media to TPS registrants. The calls were in relation to the possible mis-selling of PPI. The Commission concluded there had been breaches of DMA Code of […]
The Direct Marketing Commission had received six complaints against this company over the last few months. Concerns had been raised in relation to calls received from National Money Savers to TPS registrants and in two cases those consumers were passed to other third parties against their wishes. The complaints were upheld in relation to TPS regulations (clauses […]
Concerns had been raised by three businesses which related to email marketing. One complaint related to an unwanted email and the difficulty of finding out the source of the data; a second complaint related to claims that email addresses had not been suppressed adequately; and a third claim from a business related to the sale […]
This complaint from a business related to a data order for approximately 25,000 records of email addresses and telephone numbers for residential landlords. The Marketing Data Consultancy had bought the data from a supplier and provided it in good faith to the complainant. It was clear that there had been a breakdown in communication between […]
Complaints not upheld. The Claims Advisory Group is a claims company which aims to provide a complete solution to clients who wish to instigate claims against financial companies for the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance policies. The two direct complainants to the DMC related to the failure of call centre staff to put a ’Do […]
These complaints related to concerns from two individuals. In one case, a TPS registered individual had received an unwanted call from a legal company in relation to a personal injury claim. In a second case, an individual had received an incorrectly addressed and unwanted email regarding PPI loans to an address which he claimed had never […]
This case related to complaints from two customers who were members of one of Rocket Marketing Group’s savings club schemes. Once they were established members, Rocket had sent them a letter offering an additional product. The letter had stated that if the customers did not cancel within a specified time frame then monies would automatically […]
This case related to complaints from consumers who had made an order over the telephone for a product advertised on a television shopping channel. At the time of order they had been additionally sold a free trial for one of Rocket’s annual membership discount schemes. Concerns had been raised about the vulnerability of the consumers, […]
The complaints brought to attention of the Direct Marketing Commission in relation to B2B Data Lists Group/Data Providers UK involved breaches of fundamental Code provisions, and the Commission concluded that the appropriate sanction would be to recommend to the DMA, that the company were removed from DMA membership. In the period from October 2010 the […]
This complaint from a business related to an order of data for 10,000 records. The data had been used to send out a letter to recipients asking if they wished to give up smoking. There had been a large number of letters returned as ‘not based at this address’ and many complaints from people who […]
This case related to telemarketing activity undertaken by Phruit. The Commission investigated following a complaint from an individual consumer who was registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). The consumer had been contacted with the offer of will-writing services having previously been contacted by Phruit in what seemed to be a lead-generation exercise carried out in the guise of research. The investigation involved contact with the original complainant, a review of TPS and other web-based complaints and an attempt to validate compliance with TPS cleansing. Over 100 complaints involving people who had registered with TPS were attributable to Phruit directly or to companies using their data. The Commission had access to over two years of dialogue between the DMA’s compliance team and Phruit that was anchored in ongoing concerns over TPS compliance and the misrepresentation of research.
This door to door complaint related to a claim by a business that their leaflet to 16302 properties was not delivered satisfactorily. All parties had undertaken back-checking and it was clear that some evidence had been provided to show delivery had taken place, though there were differences in the data and in the timeframes over which this was collected. The Commission recognised that 100% delivery cannot be guaranteed and a number of factors can affect recall of an item. These include who is interviewed and the timing and performance of the checking and the nature of item, and its design and impact.
This complaint related to a claim from a business that information online lacked an element of specificity and detail. The company in question had amended their website once the complaint was raised, and in addition, offered a full refund. In conclusion, the Commission did not consider that there was a deliberate attempt to mislead clients, and did not uphold the complaint under clause 3.17 which asks that members act decently, fairly and reasonably. A full refund had been offered and there had been no further complaints. However, there were claims from the complainant that the revised edition of the website was still not sufficiently clear, and as this aspect of the case fell more appropriately under the auspices of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the complainant was advised to take his complaint further with the ASA if required. Complaint not upheld.
This complaint from a business related to an order of email records for which there had been a high hard bounce rate. Following discussion, the Commission concluded that Intelligent Data’s measures for managing and cleansing data overall appeared generally satisfactory. The company had now offered a refund to the complainant at his request, and the case was considered resolved and closed.
This complaint from a consumer related to unwanted marketing mailings received. BT had suppressed the consumer’s details when she first complained. However, the consumer then received a second unwanted mailing due to a timing issue in that the direct marketing received was the output made two days previously to her being added to the suppression list. A third mailing had then been received which was the result of an external data mismatch. The Board noted that BT had agreed to review their external data process and make improvements to ensure this type of issue did not occur. Should this type of complaint against BT become more prevalent we would further investigate their procedures. BT were, however, formally reminded of their obligations under the Code to suppress, as soon as possible, a recipient’s data from their marketing database should that customer request not to receive any further commercial communications. Reminder of obligations under the Code.
This complaint from a business related to an order for 4,700 email marketing contacts. The complainant claimed that it had been agreed that the mailing lists would be for decision makers in those companies. However, only 3,128 records were received and the complainant had been advised he had 1,572 credits on his account though he claimed he had never agreed to a credit.
This complaint from a number of advertisers related to a door-drop delivery of a Your Town Lichfield. It was based on the concerns of a number of businesses who had taken advertising space in the directory that there was a failure in terms of the delivery. The Commission concluded on the balance of probability that there had been a breach of Clauses 3.17 and 3.21 of the DMA Code of Practice and reminded Yell of the obligations on members of the DMA . The Commission welcomed the actions taken by Yell to address the concerns of all those advertising in the directory in question
This related to a sales call during which a consumer agreed to sign up to a three month trial period. The consumer did not wish to proceed beyond the trial period, but claims monies have been taken from his account without his consent. This complaint was upheld as it is a breach of direct marketing standards not to address consumer and business complaints. Complaint upheld.
This complaint related to a door-drop delivery of 4,500 leaflets. Whilst the company who made the complaint understood that their leaflets would be distributed with the leaflets of two other companies, they alleged there were a number of different leaflets which they claimed the distributor inserted inside a magazine. The Commission concluded that Tudor’s documentation did not show a limitation or guarantee for the number or types of items to be delivered at the same time, and no evidence was found that they had deviated from their standard contract by accepting other items to be delivered at the same time. However, their services document clearly stated that items would not be tucked inside something else, and it was felt that this would have raised a reasonable expectation that the leaflet would not be tucked inside another item. The Board therefore upheld this aspect of the complaint under clause 3.17 of the Direct Marketing Code of Practice which relates to fair behaviour. Complaint upheld.
This complaint related to the receipt of unwanted marketing emails despite the consumer having opted-out. Following investigation, the Commission were informed that this was due to a data mapping error with a maximum of 310,000 records potentially affected. This complaint was upheld under Section 3, Clause 3.10 on compliance with relevant legislation and under Section 14, Clauses 14.4-14.5 on consent and passing email to third parties. Cornhill Direct have been asked to provide written assurance that they will in future comply with the Code. Complaint upheld.
This complaint related to an unsolicited sales call which the complainant claimed to be deceptive and misleading. The Commission acknowledged the consumer’s claim that the operative who had made the call had been discourteous and BT were reminded of their obligations under the Code to be at all times courteous and efficient during sales calls. However, the Board concluded that the telephone script used for the putposes of these calls was satisfactory and the complaint was therefore not upheld. Complaint not upheld.
