With the expansion of massive courier companies and straight-to-your-door delivery services, text message notifications are often seen as a matter of convenience for most consumers. Now, recent interpretations of these text messages in relation to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) might also be costly violations for the world’s biggest courier services.
Starting in the early 1990s, the TCPA was established to protect consumers against violations from companies using predatory telephone practices. Even the most seemingly innocuous of telephonic communications are violations under this legislation:
For the most part, the majority of violations under the TCPA stem from a failure to gain consent from the customer. No matter the method of attempting communication with a client, companies failing to gain expressed permission run into trouble.
Courier services in recent years often utilize automated texts as a way of providing customers with updates. Whether or not a customer welcomes the texts is irrelevant; if the companies do not have their consent, the practice is a violation under TCPA, hence the most recent Class Action against the courier services.
Among the biggest names in business, FedEx, UPS, and DHL Express are all courier services that make use of automated text messages to provide shipping updates and notifications. Of the aforementioned names, FedEx was named as the main culprit behind the practice of automated texts. Using autodialing software, FedEx automatically texted its customers; however, these texts were sent without asking for the customers’ permission.
The class action against FedEx stems from instances where individuals who never did business with a courier service started receiving texts without their consent. If consent was never gained from these aforementioned customers, then these are flagrant violations under the TCPA.
Additional violations stem from the allegations that FedEx never provided those receiving text messages with a way to opt out or request the texts to stop. Providing customers with opt out opportunities is an integral part of TCPA compliance. The punitive consequences for TCPA violators are divided into two categories:
If consumers can take action and prove the intent of FedEx or another courier company to violate the TCPA, consumers most likely have a valid complaint on their hands.
Don’t let companies like FedEx or UPS continue to send harassing texts. If you received texts without your consent, you could be entitled to upwards of $500 to $1500 per violation. Stop the harassing texts and call an expert TCPA lawyer today.
The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi have stood up to countless companies that engage in violations of the TCPA. Let stand up for you and get you the compensation you rightfully deserve. Call us at 1-844-JIBRAEL or visit us online today.