ASA issues warning to Geoff Banks Online as ad “omitted significant conditions”

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint made against Geoff Banks Online after the bookmaker was deemed to have breached the CAP Code.

The operator published an advert online via www.geoffbanks.bet on 13 April 2024 that read: “FOR THE MISSUS: Place a bet on the Aintree Grand National and get a free £10 bet on the Scottish Grand National.”

The ad was followed by a text message two days later that 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 issue stems from one complainant who was unable to redeem the promotion and argued that the CAP Code had been breached because a number of key conditions relating to the promotion had been omitted from the online ad.

Due to the complainant not replying to a text message, they were unable to claim the offer. The original complaint argued that this required step was not clear in the original ad.

This was disputed by Geoff Banks Online, with the bookmaker arguing all aspects on how to claim the promotion were made clear in both the online ad and the follow-up text message sent to players on 15 April.

Furthermore, on 17 April, an email was sent to participants outlining how to claim the free bet as well as stating that the free bet had to be placed by 5pm on 19 April.

Geoff Banks Online maintained that the complainant had read the text message but did not reply to it until the following day once the promotion had ended. The firm also highlighted that other players had followed the relevant entry requirements and had been credited with the £10 free bet as advertised.

The email sent on 17 April also included the end date of the promotion and therefore, in the bookmaker’s view, the complainant had not been at a disadvantage.

Two days later, on 19 April, Geoff Banks Online updated the original online ad so that it also featured the closing date.

The bookie has stood firm that the ad was not misleading, maintaining the terms on how to claim the bet were made clear in the text message sent to entrants on 15 April.

However, the ASA has opted to uphold the single complaint, citing the CAP Code’s requirement that “promotions must communicate all applicable significant conditions or information where the omission of such information was likely to mislead” as the reason for its decision.

“Significant conditions” in this case are defined as information on how to participate in the promotion and the closing date of the offer.

The ASA stated that it understood that in order to qualify for the free bet that was promoted, customers would have to reply to a text message sent by the bookmaker by 5pm on 19 April

However, it was the ASA’s view, that customers were not informed in the original ad that they would receive a text message, nor were they expressly told they had to reply to the message by a certain date and time.

All these factors were considered by the ASA to be “significant conditions” likely to impact the understanding of the promotion and a player’s decision to take it up, and consequently prompted the ASA to rule that the “omission of such information was likely to mislead” and therefore were in breach of the CAP Code.

The advertising watchdog did acknowledge the follow-up email sent to customers clarified that they had received a text message from the bookmaker and that replying to it would be make them eligible for the £10 free bet.

Nevertheless, the email omitted details surrounding the exact date and timescale players had to reply to the text.

The update to the online ad, which occurred the day before the promotion ended, to include the date by which participants had to place the free bet, was also acknowledged by the ASA.

However, according to the advertising governing body, even after the update, it was not made clear that customers had to respond to a text message to become eligible and that this condition should have been presented clearly within the ad at the very beginning of the promotion.

For the reason, the ASA ruled the ad was in breach of the CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 8.2, 8.17, 8.17.1, 8.17.4 and 8.17.4.a in relation to promotional marketing.

As a result of this decision, the ASA has warned Geoff Banks Online that the ad must not appear again in such form and that the bookmaker must ensure future promotions include all “significant conditions” relevant to the terms of the offer.

Just last week, the advertising watchdog was called into action in a similar case against Electronic Arts (EA), after a complaint was made against the gaming studio’s advert promoting its Golf Clash game and its subsequent failure to declare the game featured loot boxes.