On July 6, 2018 I purchased SMSbot via a link from an email sent to my by Satish Gaire. The product is slick (in a good way) and makes sending SMS text messages to individuals very easy using Twilio.com. I purchased the product as I knew a church that wanted just such a system for communications with their congregation.
I was in the process of setting up an account for the church when i ran across the U.S. FCC's Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). A law that applies to all commercial communications. When I realized that nothing in the software training or nothing automatically provided in the software provided notifications required by the TCPA I contacted Gaire Group Support and explained my concerns about compliance with the TCPA I was told that Twilio provided the necessary compliance.
The law requires out going text messages to contain certain information which neither SMSbot or Twilio includes with the messages. Therefore the messages being sent using SMSbot ARE NOT compliant with the TCPA. Fines for sending non-compliant messages range from $500 to $1500 per text pre recipient. In other words sending 1 text message to 10 people could get an SMSbot user fined between $5000 and $15000.
I told Gaire Group Support to either show me how to comply with the TCPA or refund my purchase money and cancel my SMSbot account. They did neither. The SMSbot DEMO (Currently found here getsmsbot.net/go/special/#demo) clearly shows there is NO Opt-out or Help information included in any of the SMSbot messaging.
In addition to the FCC there is an industry group, the CTIA, which also provides guidelines for SMS text communciations. There are requirements from the CTIA that are also NOT MET by SMSbot. In order to make Satish Gaire aware of the laws and requirements SMSbot had to comply with I sent him the following links:
Mr Gaire replied to my email stating that "All US FEDERAL compliance has been met from Twilio." (which as can be seen in the SMSbot DEMO and verified by the above links is NOT TRUE).
The ending paragraph in his email said... "And lastly, If everyone started worrying about things like these, they would just sit at home in bed all day long because of all the laws/regulations. You can file a ticket for refund and if its under our TOS, the vendor will provide it. I am just a promoter."
It appears Satish Gaire feels laws and regulations can be ignored if they interfere with his efforts to make money.
I requested a refund within 30 days of purchasing SMSbot and continued to follow-up for 3 months. Despite the "No Questions Asked 30 Day Money Back Guarantee" my money was not refunded and the seller was never able to demonstrate compliance with the TCPA and CTIA requirements.
Satish Gaire Reviews
On July 6, 2018 I purchased SMSbot via a link from an email sent to my by Satish Gaire. The product is slick (in a good way) and makes sending SMS text messages to individuals very easy using Twilio.com. I purchased the product as I knew a church that wanted just such a system for communications with their congregation.
I was in the process of setting up an account for the church when i ran across the U.S. FCC's Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). A law that applies to all commercial communications. When I realized that nothing in the software training or nothing automatically provided in the software provided notifications required by the TCPA I contacted Gaire Group Support and explained my concerns about compliance with the TCPA I was told that Twilio provided the necessary compliance.
The law requires out going text messages to contain certain information which neither SMSbot or Twilio includes with the messages. Therefore the messages being sent using SMSbot ARE NOT compliant with the TCPA. Fines for sending non-compliant messages range from $500 to $1500 per text pre recipient. In other words sending 1 text message to 10 people could get an SMSbot user fined between $5000 and $15000.
I told Gaire Group Support to either show me how to comply with the TCPA or refund my purchase money and cancel my SMSbot account. They did neither. The SMSbot DEMO (Currently found here getsmsbot.net/go/special/#demo) clearly shows there is NO Opt-out or Help information included in any of the SMSbot messaging.
In addition to the FCC there is an industry group, the CTIA, which also provides guidelines for SMS text communciations. There are requirements from the CTIA that are also NOT MET by SMSbot. In order to make Satish Gaire aware of the laws and requirements SMSbot had to comply with I sent him the following links:
callfire.com/blog/2018/08/16/step-by-step-sms-compliance-checklist
help.simpletexting.com/compliance-consent-and-legal-stuff/compliance-and-consent/tcpa-compliance
ivr-lab.com/rules-and-regulationsfor-sms
sms-magic.com/blog/tcpa-guidelines-bulk-texting-usa/
digitaldealer.com/2018-tcpa-texting-rules-every-car-dealership-know/
Mr Gaire replied to my email stating that "All US FEDERAL compliance has been met from Twilio." (which as can be seen in the SMSbot DEMO and verified by the above links is NOT TRUE).
The ending paragraph in his email said... "And lastly, If everyone started worrying about things like these, they would just sit at home in bed all day long because of all the laws/regulations. You can file a ticket for refund and if its under our TOS, the vendor will provide it. I am just a promoter."
It appears Satish Gaire feels laws and regulations can be ignored if they interfere with his efforts to make money.
I requested a refund within 30 days of purchasing SMSbot and continued to follow-up for 3 months. Despite the "No Questions Asked 30 Day Money Back Guarantee" my money was not refunded and the seller was never able to demonstrate compliance with the TCPA and CTIA requirements.