An unnamed member of the public complained about the e-mails from Company Car Consultants, a company based in Milngavie, near Glasgow, that sources company cars for customers.Near the bottom of the marketing e-mail was a heading: "Marketing Compliance Code":"marketing communications are delivered in accordance with EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications. All marketing communications originate from outside the EU. An active method of opting out of further communications from us and associated organisations is supplied at the base of this email communication".A link below stated "To no longer receive further communications please click here".The Surrey-based complainant took action after he received more than 80 e-mails to his personal account, despite using the opt-out link provided.Given that Company Car Consultants is based in the UK, it is irrelevant to compliance with spam laws that the e-mails may have been sent from a server based overseas. Prior consent would be necessary for legal compliance, and for compliance with the rulebook followed by the ASA, known as the CAP Code.However, the company was not seeking an argument about the location of its service. Instead, it said it could not determine where it had obtained the complainant's details without knowing his e-mail address – which the ASA did not disclose – and suggested that he may have been a previous customer or may have signed up at its web site. The complainant denied this, and the ASA seemed inclined to believe him.The ASA wrote:"The Authority considered that the advertisers had not shown they had adhered to the relevant legal or self-regulatory requirements and told them to ensure that, in future, promotional e-mails were sent only to consumers who had consented to receive them."As for the unsubscribe problem, Company Car Consultants suggested that its failure may have been due to a technical error; but the ASA considered this unlikely since the complainant had tried it more than once.The ASA noted that the option of unsubscribing by dialling a premium-rate phone number would cost £1.50 a minute – when the advertisers should have provided a working opt-out facility free of charge.The ASA found breaches of the CAP Code on all counts. Failure to comply with the CAP Code is not illegal; but the ASA can impose penalties for non-compliance. Unfortunately for those hoping to see stiffer punishments levied on spammers, the ASA's only action against Company Car Consultants was a warning to ensure compliance with the CAP Code in future.
