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Avoiding Rejection: Patterns from Real Registration Reviews

Most rejections and "changes needed" outcomes fall into seven categories. The percentages below reflect how often each category appears in registration review emails — they're based on clustering of real reviewer feedback, not estimates.

Addressing these before you submit is faster than iterating after rejection. Ready to submit? See Register via API or Register via Dashboard.

Opt-in flow issues (~68%)

This is the most common rejection reason, and it covers two related problems: missing consent disclosures at the point of collection, and making SMS consent a condition of signup.

What reviewers look for: At minimum, a phone number input with explicit consent disclosures visible nearby. The disclosures must include message frequency, "Msg&data rates apply", and "Reply STOP to opt out."

Real reviewer feedback:

  • "Typically we expect at the very least a phone number input and the consent disclosures shown in the registration flow."
  • "The carriers don't allow SMS consent to be a requirement for signup."
  • "It collects a phone number, but it would need to have checkboxes for transactional and marketing SMS consent."
  • "Looking at the contact form on [domain], it doesn't contain the necessary consent disclosures to be able to collect SMS consent."

What to fix:

  • Add an unchecked opt-in checkbox specifically for SMS (do not bundle it with general terms agreement)
  • Display the three required disclosures near the phone number field
  • Never pre-check the consent box

Business identity consistency (~34%)

Carriers expect the name, domain, and contact information on your registration to match what they can verify publicly. Mismatches — between your website, your email domain, and your registered business name — cause rejections.

Real reviewer feedback:

  • "The website doesn't give much info."
  • "The email address you provided doesn't match the business domain, and they expect that to match or to use a common email domain like gmail."

What to fix:

  • Use an email address at your business domain (hello@acme.com, not acme_hello@gmail.com)
  • Make sure your website clearly describes what your business does — a blank site, a coming-soon page, or a generic template fails review
  • Ensure your registered business name, website, and social media profiles all use the same name

Privacy policy issues (~23%)

Your privacy policy must be publicly accessible and must not contain language that implies SMS opt-in through agreeing to the policy itself.

Real reviewer feedback:

  • "Right now you don't appear to have a privacy policy or terms page."
  • "The first two paragraphs should be removed because they say that anyone agreeing to the terms and conditions is opting in to receive text messages, and that won't work because they have to explicitly opt in to receive messages."

What to fix:

  • Publish a privacy policy at a publicly accessible URL (not behind a login)
  • Remove any language implying that agreeing to the policy constitutes SMS consent
  • Link to the privacy policy directly from your registration form

Terms of service issues (~11%)

Same principle as the privacy policy: publicly accessible, not behind a login.

Real reviewer feedback:

  • "The privacy policy and terms of service are both behind a login."

What to fix:

  • Host both documents at public URLs
  • The terms page should be indexable — no robots.txt exclusions

Sample message issues (~9%)

Message samples are read literally by reviewers. Placeholder tokens left unreplaced are flagged immediately.

Real reviewer feedback:

  • "The sample message says 'this is {Agent Name} from {Agency}'."

What to fix:

  • Replace every template token with realistic example values
  • Make samples reflect what you'll actually send — don't submit generic lorem ipsum messages
  • If you're sending from an agent or on behalf of a client, use the real brand name

Brand vs sender identity mismatch (~5%)

Every message you send must come from the brand registered on that account. If you're sending on behalf of a client, the registration must reflect the client's brand, not yours.

Real reviewer feedback:

  • "Every message must match the brand to which the phone number is registered."

What to fix:

  • For each client or brand, create a separate account registered under that client's legal entity
  • Do not use one campaign to send messages under multiple brand names

See One Account per Customer for the architectural pattern.

Business type / EIN mismatch (~5%)

Your business type must match how you're actually incorporated. Registering as sole_proprietor when you have an LLC or corporation is a mismatch that reviewers catch.

Real reviewer feedback:

  • "Because your business name is [X] LLC, you will need to register as a private corporation rather than a sole proprietor, which means you will need to provide an EIN."

What to fix:

  • If your business name includes "LLC", use llc
  • If it includes "Inc." or "Corp.", use private_corporation (or public_corporation if publicly traded)
  • sole_proprietor is for unincorporated individuals only and does not require an EIN