ASA Reprimands Sean Graham over Unclear Promotion Conditions

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against bookie Sean Graham, issuing a warning over the unfair administering of a promotion. The bookmaker was told that its ad must not appear in the same form and that it should make sure its future promotions are fairly administered.

Sean Graham Shop Didn’t Allow Player to Redeem Voucher

In its official release, the ASA referred to recent Sean Graham GBP 5 vouchers that displayed “MATCHED BET VOUCHER” and “WIN ONLY” in large letters on the front. On the back, the voucher stated that to place a bet, voucher owners simply needed to present it to “any Sean Graham betting shop or on-course facility.”

However, when one customer took their voucher to a Sean Graham betting shop, they were refused the GBP 5 bet. The ASA noted that this “challenged whether the promotion was administered fairly.”

The ASA learned that the vouchers were handed directly to customers, with players receiving verbal instructions on how to claim the bet.

March 14, when the customer in question tried to redeem the voucher, was the final day of the Cheltenham Racing Festival. The store visited by the complainant, however, did not allow the player to redeem it despite the fact that the voucher stated that customers could redeem the bet at any of Sean Graham’s betting shops.

The Voucher Was No Longer Valid

Sean Graham representatives later told the ASA that they periodically carried out localized promotions in the form of vouchers. It clarified that these vouchers were usually location or event-specific and were not regular day-to-day promotions.

As it turned out, the vouchers in question could only be used on the first three days of the Cheltenham Festival. Sean Graham acknowledged that this fact might not have been clearly communicated to the players. The bookmaker recognized the importance of displaying more information on the reverse of future vouchers and ensuring that players are informed.

ASA Reprimanded Sean Graham

The ASA noted that the CAP Code states that promotions “should communicate all applicable significant conditions where the omission of such information was likely to mislead.” In addition to that, promoters should make sure to avoid unnecessary customer disappointment.

In this case, the vouchers did not clearly communicate their validity. The ASA ruled that this omission was likely to mislead players. While the authority acknowledged that extra information could have been transmitted verbally, it noted that, per the CAP Code, significant conditions must be stated in the ad itself or made available in an easily accessible source.

As a result, the ASA ruled that Sean Graham’s ad violated the Code. The authority let the bookmaker off with a warning, telling it that “the ad must not appear again in the form complained of” and that it must make sure that the conditions of future promotions were communicated clearly and the promotions were administered fairly.