Another day, another scolding for Coral.
Coral once again found itself on the receiving end of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) scolding—this time over another email promotion offering free bets to new customers, which the operator sent out in error.
The gambling operator sent an email last April 9 that offered new customers a £20 free bet once they had placed a £5 sports bet. But Coral said the emails were mistakenly sent out, noting that customers were supposed to receive a free £5 bet after depositing the equivalent amount.
One complainant, who received the email and placed a bet, was informed that the offer had expired.
In its response, Coral said the complainant received an automated email promoting the outdated £20 free bet offer “due to an oversight by Coral’s third-party email provider.” However, the complainant would not have been able to take advantage of the offer, since they had already signed up to the Grand National promotion and could only take advantage of one-sign-up bonus as a new customer.
Still, the ASA ruled the ad as “misleading,” and would have caused “unnecessary disappointment.”
“Because the email suggested that the complainant was eligible to take up the advertised offer when that as not the case, we concluded that it was misleading,” the advertising watchdog said, adding that Coral had “not dealt fairly” with the complainant.
This isn’t Coral’s first skirmish with the ASA. Last week, the UK betting shop received a double whammy from the UK advertising watchdog over two “misleading” free bet deals that ran during Euro 2016.
In June the gambling operator sent out two emails—one promoting free £10 bets on the outcome of Euro 2016 matches, and the other offering customers a free £10 bet every time a British or Irish team scored in the first round of matches. The ASA, however, found that the promotions failed to make the conditions “sufficiently clear,” and told Coral to ensure that their future promotional advertising will not mislead customers.
