Gothamiax Limited

This case was brought against Gothamiax Limited, (‘the Level 2 provider’) under Paragraph 4.5 of the 14th Edition of the Code of Practice (‘the Code’). This case concerned a subscription alerts service called ‘Every Day Saves’ (‘the Service’), which provided consumers with links to websites offering discounts and savings.

The Executive submitted that the Level 2 provider had breached rules of Code 14 because some consumers who were subscribed to the Service had not been provided with billed messages and subscription reminders, and for not solving consumer complaints quickly, easily and fairly. 

The Tribunal concluded that the seriousness of the case should be regarded overall as serious. 

Sanctions imposed:
• a formal reprimand 
• a requirement that the Level 2 provider obtains and implements compliance advice to ensure that its customer service and complaint handling function is compliant and complaints are resolved quickly, easily and fairly and that any redress to consumers is provided quickly and easily and free messages and subscription messages are delivered to consumers
• a requirement that the Level 2 provider must refund all consumers who claim a refund, for the full amount spent by them on the Service, within 28 days of their claim, save where there is good cause to believe that such claims are not valid, and provide evidence to PSA that such refunds have been made 
• a fine of £100,000.

The Tribunal considered that as it had not upheld the breach of Rule 2.3.3, circumstances justified reducing the recovery of the PSA’s administrative costs. It therefore recommended that the Level 2 provider be invoiced for two-thirds of the PSA’s total administrative and legal costs. 

Administrative charge recommendation: 66.7%