Walgreens Secretly Records Certain Customer Service Calls, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action alleges Walgreens illegally records inbound calls made to its customer service number without consumers’ knowledge or consent.

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The 14-page class action lawsuit accuses Walgreens of violating California’s Invasion of Privacy Act, a law that prohibits the intentional recording of phone calls without permission from all parties involved. More specifically, the case claims that Walgreens maintains a company-wide practice of secretly recording the conversations of callers who contact the pharmacy at one of its toll-free numbers, 1-877-250-5823.

The plaintiff, a California resident, says she called the pharmacy’s customer service number in November 2023 to obtain information from a live representative about certain fragrance products and to make a purchase. The woman called Walgreens again the following month to inquire about its return and refund policy for the purchase she had made, the complaint shares.

“At no point during these inbound telephone communications was [the plaintiff] ever informed that her communications were being recorded,” the suit says. As a result, the case claims, the woman “did not give, and could not have given consent” to having her conversation recorded because she was “entirely unaware” of this practice.

The lawsuit notes that the plaintiff revealed private information during these phone calls, including her full name, address and email address.

“Because [Walgreens] failed to warn [the plaintiff] at the outset of the telephone communications that the communications were being recorded and her consent for recording of the telephone communications never was sought, [the plaintiff] had an objectively reasonable expectation that her telephone communications with [the company’s] employees, agents, or representatives were not being recorded,” the filing says.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in California who, within the past year, called Walgreens’ customer service number from their cell phone, engaged in a telephone conversation with the company’s representatives and was recorded without warning or disclosure at the call outset.

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