Consent revocation: how customers can opt out, and how fast you must honour it
Customers can withdraw consent to texts in more ways than replying STOP. What the FCC's revocation rules require in plain terms, what a confirmation text may say, and the setup that keeps you safe. Not legal advice.
Frontiva · · 3 min read
A customer can withdraw consent to receive texts by any reasonable means: replying STOP, writing "please stop texting me", telling you at the front desk, or sending an email. Under rules the FCC adopted in 2024, businesses must honour a revocation within a set time (no more than ten business days) and may send one confirmation text. Some parts of those rules took effect in 2025 and others were delayed, so check the current status. The safe setup is to stop immediately, everywhere. This is not legal advice.
Any reasonable means
The rule's key idea: the customer does not have to use your preferred keyword. STOP, END, QUIT, UNSUBSCRIBE, "no more texts", "take me off your list", or a note to your front desk all count. A business cannot insist on a single method.
How fast
The FCC's rules set an outer limit for honouring a revocation. Your systems should not come close to it. The right target is immediate: the next message that would have gone to that number does not go.
The confirmation text
A single confirmation text is permitted, sent promptly, confirming the opt-out. It must not try to win the customer back or send marketing. "You are unsubscribed from Northside Dental texts. Reply START to resubscribe." is enough.
What revocation covers
A customer who says stop generally means stop. Treat a revocation as covering every kind of message from your business to that number unless the customer clearly limited it, and confirm the scope in the confirmation text if it is ambiguous. Parts of the FCC's rules on how far a revocation reaches have had their effective dates delayed; the conservative approach is not to rely on narrow readings.
Setting it up
- Keyword handling for STOP and its common variations, at the platform level, with no AI involved.
- Plain-language opt-outs recognised, or at least flagged for a person the same day.
- In-person and phone requests recorded on the customer's record by whoever received them.
- One opt-out, everywhere. Recorded against the number, not one conversation or campaign.
- A record of when and how each revocation arrived.
Re-subscribing
A customer who texts START, or asks to receive reminders again, can be re-enabled. Record that as a new consent, with the date and wording.
Frequently asked questions
Does a revocation stop appointment reminders too?
Treat it as stopping everything unless the customer clearly says otherwise. Ask them if unsure; do not assume.
What if a customer who opted out texts us later?
Replying to their new message is a conversation they started. Keep the reply to what they asked, and do not restart reminders without a new consent.
Are STOP replies from other languages valid?
Treat clear opt-out requests in any language as valid.
What Frontiva does here
In Frontiva a STOP is recorded against the phone number, so it covers every conversation with that person, including ones opened later. START lifts it, HELP is answered with the carrier-required disclosure, and the AI is kept out of all three. Every outbound message then passes one send check that reads opt-out state. See STOP, HELP and the texts you must answer and the unified inbox page.