RetailMeNot Text Messages and Do Not Call List TCPA Class Action

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) makes the rules and regulations for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The complaint for this class action says, “According to the FCC’s findings, calls in violation of the TCPA are prohibited because, as Congress found, automated or prerecorded telephone calls are a greater nuisance and invasion of privacy than live solicitation calls, and such calls can be costly an inconvenient.” At issue in this case are text messages allegedly sent to consumer cell phones by RetailMeNot, Inc.

According to the complaint, “The TCPA prohibits: (1) any person from calling a cellular telephone number; (2) using an automatic telephone dialing system; (3) without the recipient’s prior express consent.”

Telemarketers may also not call persons whose telephone numbers have been placed on the National Do Not Call Registry.

This complaint alleges that RetailMeNot has violated both of those provisions. The company owns and operates websites that provide coupons and special deals for products and other retailers.

Plaintiff Kristen Powell received ten text messages from RetailMeNot on her cell phone on or about July 16, 2020. They included the following:

• “RMN: Summer Sale Starts Now! Up to 50% off at H&M!…”
• “RMN: In Store Only Thread at Pooping Puppies!…”
• “RMN: RetailMeNot Exclusive! Extra 15% Off Any Purchase at Ashley Stewart!…”
• “RMN: $5 off $50 or Greater Purchase at HoneyBaked Ham Co…”

The complaint claims that Powell did not give RetailMeNot her express invitation or permission to receive text messages on her cell phone, or using an automatic dialing system. She has no established business relationship with RetailMeNot and registered her cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry in February 2018.

The impersonal and generic nature of the text messages, the complaint says, demonstrates that they were sent as part of a mass mailing using an automatic dialing system.

Two classes have been proposed for this action.

• The No Consent Class is all persons who, between August 21, 2016 and the present, (1) received a text message from RetailMeNot, (2) sent using the same type of equipment used to text the plaintiff in this case, (3) to promote RetailMeNot’s goods or services, and (4) for whom RetailMeNot claims it either did not get prior express written consent or got it in the same manner as it supposedly got it from the plaintiff in this case.
• The Do Not Call Registry Class is all persons in the US who, between August 21, 2016 to the present, (1) were sent a text message by RetailMeNot (2) more than one time within any twelve-month period, (3) to advertise or promote RetailMeNot’s goods or services (4) where the person’s telephone number had been listed on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least thirty days, and (5) for whom RetailMeNot did not get prior invitation or permission from the person and did not have an established business relationship with the person.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: Called Number on Do Not Call Registry, TCPA, Unsolicited Cell Phone Calls, Unsolicited Text Messages, Use of Automatic-Capable Dialer