Texting rules: STOP, HELP, and staying compliant

Texting customers is regulated. The TCPA governs consent, and the carriers run the A2P 10DLC program that vets business senders. Pitlane handles the machinery so you don't wire it up yourself, but here's what's actually happening.

STOP means stop, automatically

Every automated customer text Pitlane sends ends with "Reply STOP to opt out." When a customer replies STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT), two things happen:

• The carrier auto-replies with the opt-out confirmation.
• Pitlane flips that contact's SMS consent to off and stamps the time. From then on, Pitlane will not send them another automated text. If you try, the send is skipped, not queued.

The keyword match is forgiving on punctuation and strict on intent. "STOP." and "Stop!" opt out. "Stopping by at noon" does not, because STOP has to be the actual message, not a word buried in a sentence.

START and HELP

• START, YES, or UNSTOP opts a customer back in.
• HELP or INFO returns your shop's info line.

Consent is tracked, not assumed

Pitlane tracks consent per customer. A contact who never opted in, or who opted out, is blocked at the send. Which is also why you should only import customers you have permission to text. People who never bought from you don't belong on the list.

Between the dedicated registered number, the STOP handling, and consent tracking, your shop's texting stays on the right side of TCPA and CAN-SPAM without you managing any of it by hand.