Opt-outs and consent

Texting customers comes with rules about consent and opting out, separate from carrier registration. Here's what Hey Quad does for you and what's up to you.

This is general information, not legal advice.

STOP, START and HELP

These work on every number without any setup.

• STOP opts the person out. So do STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, QUIT, END and OPT OUT when sent on their own. A text that starts with STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE ("Stop texting me") counts too. They get an automatic confirmation.
• START (or UNSTOP, YES, OPT IN) opts them back in. It has to be the whole message.
• HELP (or INFO) sends an automatic reply with how to reach you and how to opt out.

An opt-out covers all your numbers. Once someone texts STOP to any of your numbers, none of your numbers can text them until they text START. Nobody on your team can override it.

Where to see who's opted out

Go to Settings → Consent & DNC. It lists everyone who texted STOP and everyone you've added by hand to your Internal do-not-call list. People on that list can't be texted either.

The same page holds your consent records and lets you add one by hand.

Marketing vs. everyday texts

• Everyday texts (appointment reminders, confirmations, order updates, callbacks) need the ordinary consent a customer gives when they do business with you and give you their number.
• Marketing texts (offers, promotions, win-backs) need clear written consent to promotional messages specifically. Hey Quad refuses a marketing text when there's no written marketing consent on file.

To collect consent on a call, use the Capture consent step in a call flow. Set it to marketing for promotional opt-ins and transactional for everything else.

Put "Reply STOP to opt out" in your opt-in confirmation and in your marketing texts. You promised carriers this when you registered, and they check.

Quiet hours for marketing texts

Marketing texts can only go out during the day in the recipient's local time. Federal rules allow 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Some states are stricter: Florida, for example, ends at 8 p.m. Hey Quad uses the stricter window for the recipient's state. If it can't tell the state, it uses 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Hey Quad also sends no more than three marketing texts to the same person in 24 hours.

Everyday texts aren't held by quiet hours. Still, avoid texting customers late at night.

Good to know

• A later STOP always wins, even over consent recorded more recently on a call.
• An opt-out is tied to the phone number, not the contact. If a contact has two numbers, opting out on one doesn't opt out the other.
• STOP replies still go out. The confirmation that someone opted out is always sent, even though everything else to them is blocked.