Things Remembered Hit With TCPA Text Spam Suit

It’s been mentioned several times on this blog that companies are all but forbidden from contacting consumers using an automated service without their express permission. Advertisements, whether by phone, text, or e-mail, cannot be sent unsolicited without violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a federal law that imposes heavy fines on violators. Fines for even a single violation are steep, and the Act, recently given more claws, aims to prevent bothersome texts and phone calls.

Cell phone plans may require users to pay for each text message received.

Last week, Things Remembered, a nationwide store specializing in personal engraving and gifts, was accused of just such a violation. Plaintiff Wendy Boylan, in a suit filed in California, alleges that her privacy was invaded after Things Remembered sent her multiple text messages without permission. Boylan claims that thousands of consumers across the U.S. may have received similar messages.

The suit, filed in California federal court last Thursday, alleges that beginning July 2013, Boylan received multiple text messages that advertised services and products, despite never having signed up to receive such communications. The suit adds that, rather than simply being a nuisance – although that would be enough to take action under the TCPA – the texts also cost Boylan and other potential consumers money, as cell phone plans may require users to pay for each text message received, regardless of whether they wanted or authorized such messages.

The suit also claims that the messages were sent by an automated system, one of the requirements for a TCPA violation, and seeks $1500 damages per message. Boylan hopes to represent a class of nationwide consumers who received unsolicited messages from the company. With the number of potential class members still unknown, but possibly in the tens of thousands, the suit will pass the $5 million threshold to be brought under federal court jurisdiction, it says.

The case is Wendy Boylan v. Things Remembered Inc., case number 3:13-cv-02020, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.