Opt-outs, STOP and START

Anyone can stop your texts at any time, and the law says you have to honor it when they ask in any reasonable way. TextScaleHQ opts people out the moment they reply STOP or something like it, and makes sure nobody can add them back but them. This guide covers the words that opt people out, what happens next, how to unsubscribe someone yourself, and how people come back.

The words that opt people out#

A reply opts the person out when it’s one of these on its own, in any capitals, with or without punctuation or a “please”:

STOP, STOPALL, STOP ALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, OPTOUT, OPT OUT, REVOKE

Some words count wherever they are in the reply: STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, OPT OUT (or opt-out) and REVOKE. So “Please stop texting me”, “Unsubscribe me” and “Opt-out” all opt people out. They count as words of their own wherever they are, so “one-stop shop” opts someone out too. “Stop by”, “stop in” and “stop over” are the exceptions, unless the reply also mentions texts or messages: “I’ll stop by Saturday” isn’t an opt-out, but “Stop over-texting me” is. CANCEL, END and QUIT only count on their own, because “When does the sale end?” isn’t an opt-out.

When your carrier refuses a text because the person texted STOP to that number and the carrier kept it, that counts too.

What happens when someone opts out#

• At once. Every text is checked just before it goes, so a campaign that’s sending skips them from that moment.
• For that business. They’re opted out of the business that texted them. Your other businesses keep them, if they’re subscribed there. Each business has its own opt-ins and opt-outs.
• From any of its numbers. A STOP to any of the business’s numbers counts, not only the one that sends, and it’s recorded even while the business is paused.
• No confirmation from us. We don’t text them back. Twilio sends its own short reply to STOP, and you can change its words in Twilio’s Opt-Out Management. On Vonage, any confirmation comes from the carrier network, not from us.
• Counted on the campaign. A STOP within 3 days of a campaign counts as an opt-out on the last campaign they got from that business.
• Written down. It’s in your consent record, kept for at least 4 years.

Their contact page says how and when they opted out, and that only they can come back:

Status	What happened
Opted out · texted STOP	They replied with an opt-out word.
Opted out · STOP via carrier	Their carrier told us they opted out.
Unsubscribed · by you	You unsubscribed them, on their page, in an import, or from your apps.
Opted out · at a deleted business	They opted out of a business you deleted, and you’re texting from its number again (below).

Unsubscribe someone yourself#

When someone asks you to stop and their reply didn’t do it, open their contact and click Unsubscribe. They’re opted out at once and show Unsubscribed · by you. You can also unsubscribe people in bulk: import a file with a Status column that says Unsubscribed, Opted out or STOP, or have your app send "status": "unsubscribed". See A contact’s page.

You can’t undo it. Like any opt-out, only they can reverse it, by texting START.

Nobody can add them back#

An opt-out is locked. Nothing you do brings the person back:

If you try to	What happens
Add them	Add contact says This number texted STOP to Harbor Coffee, so it can’t be added. and its button stays off.
Import them	They’re skipped and listed under Opted out in the results.
Send them from your apps	The webhook answers 409, contact_unsubscribed, and Activity says why.
Sign up on your webform	The page tells them they opted out, and how to come back by texting START.
Text your keyword	Nothing happens. A keyword never undoes an opt-out.

Coming back: START#

To get your texts again, they text START or UNSTOP to the business’s number. On a local number, YES works too. They’re subscribed again with the opt-in they gave the first time, and it’s written in your consent record as a resubscribe.

• Your plan’s contact limit: if it’s full, the START isn’t applied: it’s listed under Needs attention in your consent record, and they stay opted out. Once there’s room, they can text START again.
• Never on your list: someone who texted STOP without ever having joined, or whose contact you deleted, has nothing to come back to. START alone doesn’t sign them up. They sign up on your webform first, which says One more step and Text START to (833) 555-0142 to finish joining Harbor Coffee texts., and then text START within 30 days.

HELP#

Once your HELP reply is set up, anyone who texts HELP or INFO gets it: your business name, how to reach you, about how often you text and how to opt out, even if they’ve opted out. Twilio sends it from the wording you paste in once; on Vonage we send it, though the carrier can refuse it to someone who opted out with the carrier (the number then shows Last reply didn’t go out). See Replies, STOP and HELP.

After you delete#

• A contact: their opt-out stays on file, so the number still can’t be added back.
• A business: its opt-outs are kept for 4 years. If you send from one of its numbers again from the same account, on any business, the opt-outs come back with it: contacts already on that business’s list show Opted out · at a deleted business, and the other numbers can’t be added. Someone who joined again by webform or keyword after their STOP stays subscribed. The opt-outs don’t go with the number to another account.
• Your account: opt-outs and consent records are kept for 4 years, but never used again.