Upheld: Service failures generally complaint against NewDay Ltd trading as John Lewis Credit Card

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that NewDay sent him a marketing email about a Money Transfer service despite having opted out of marketing communications when opening his credit card account in August 2022. NewDay initially classified the email as a servicing message, but the FOS investigator and NewDay ultimately agreed it was marketing because it promoted an additional paid service (2.99% fee). The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding the email breached Mr P's email preferences under ICO guidance. However, the ombudsman declined to award compensation or require a written apology, finding the inconvenience minimal and NewDay's conduct inadvertent, and confirmed that NewDay's commitment to prevent future marketing emails was sufficient remedy.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied ICO guidance which states that service messages including promotional content aimed at getting customers to buy additional products count as direct marketing. The Money Transfer email was an inducement to use an additional paid service, therefore constituting marketing. NewDay's acceptance of the investigator's findings confirmed the breach. However, the ombudsman declined to award compensation or require a written apology, finding the inconvenience was minimal (email could be easily deleted) and not comparable to more serious breaches, and that NewDay's actions appeared inadvertent without ill intent.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website