STOP, HELP and do-not-contact requests
How shoppers opt out by text, email or on a call, what HELP and START do, and what the suppression list blocks.
Last reviewed November 7, 2026
This article explains how Growth Dept ACR behaves. It is not legal advice. Ask your own counsel which rules apply to your store.
Keywords in a text
ACR checks every incoming text for a keyword before anything else reads it. The keyword has to be the whole message; case and punctuation are ignored.
| Reply | What happens |
|---|---|
| STOP, STOPALL, STOP ALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, REVOKE, OPTOUT, OPT OUT, REMOVE | The shopper is opted out of calls, texts and email, their phone number and email go on the suppression list, the lead becomes Asked not to be contacted and its open runs end. The texting provider sends its confirmation; for STOP ALL, OPT OUT and REMOVE, which Twilio does not answer, ACR replies once instead. |
| HELP, INFO | One reply with your brand name, your support email, “Msg & data rates may apply” and how to opt out. Your texting provider sends it from the keyword replies set on your number, so ACR adds no second reply. On WhatsApp, ACR sends it. |
| START, UNSTOP, SUBSCRIBE, and YES from a number that sent STOP | The block a STOP put on the number is lifted, the lead leaves Asked not to be contacted, and an opt-in to texts is recorded. Calls and email stay opted out, and blocks from other kinds of request stay. |
A reply of just “yes” counts as START only from a number that opted out with a STOP word. From anyone else it is an ordinary answer, the agent reads it, and no consent is recorded. A START records the texts opt-in as coming from that text, which counts whatever sources the campaign accepts. Consent to calls and email keeps the source it had, so a shopper who texts START without having sent STOP keeps the calls and emails they agreed to.
Opt-outs in plain words
A longer text that plainly asks to stop, such as “please don't text me again”, is handled like STOP, whether the phone types a straight or a curly apostrophe, and ACR replies “You won't get any more texts or calls from us.” When the text AI reads a text or email reply as a request to stop, the shopper is opted out of every channel; on texts the agent may send one short confirmation, the last message they get.
On a call, if a shopper asks in any words not to be called again, the agent confirms they will not be contacted, marks them do-not-contact and ends the call. ACR also checks each call afterwards and applies a request the agent missed. Either way the effect is the same as STOP.
Other ways outreach stops
- Email unsubscribe: every email has an Unsubscribe link in its footer and a one-click unsubscribe header. It stops email from your store; calls and texts go on.
- Carrier refusal: when the carrier reports that a number opted out with it, or cannot receive texts, ACR stops texting that number.
- Hard bounce: when a delivery failure report for an ACR email arrives in its Gmail thread with a permanent error (a 5.x.x status, such as an address that does not exist), the email address goes on the suppression list for email and the email shows Email bounced. A temporary failure, such as a full mailbox, changes nothing. Bounces to SMTP and Microsoft 365 mailboxes are not read yet, because their threads are not read.
- By hand: on the lead's page, press Edit, then set State to Asked not to be contacted. ACR suppresses the phone and email on every channel and ends the lead's runs. Blocked also stops all outreach, without a suppression entry.
The suppression list
Each store has one list of phone numbers and email addresses that are never contacted, on one channel or on all. An all-channel entry for a phone number covers calls, texts and WhatsApp; for an email address it covers email. ACR checks the list before a run starts and before every step, and a match skips the step with the note suppressed. Deleting a lead keeps its entries, so a shopper who opted out stays opted out.
The list has no page in the app yet. The store API reads it with values masked, adds entries and removes them: adding an all-channel entry ends open runs for leads with that address, and removing one needs the admin role and is meant only for someone who opted back in. See Suppression list in the API reference.