(WESH) — Many believe there are few things more annoying than robocalls or unsolicited text messages.
“Sometimes, I just get overly irritated by certain things and this just seems absurd,” Cheri Aul of Tampa said.
Aul said after getting a new phone number last summer, she got slammed with text messages from David’s Bridal — a store she’s never shopped at.
Court records show she followed the instructions to opt out of the texts by texting back the word ‘STOP’ multiple times.
Despite getting a confirmation she had been unsubscribed, the unwanted texts kept coming.
“It’s just mind-boggling to think the mechanism they put in place to do what I tried doesn’t do that,” Aul said.
That’s when Aul called Billy Howard, an attorney who is CEO and president of a consumer protection firm.
Howard told Aul a new law in Florida makes it illegal for telemarketers who use automatic dialing devices to call or text consumers without written permission and he believed there was ground for legal action.
“I hope to stop illegal robocalls and robotexts in Florida,” Howard said.
On Aul’s behalf, Howard filed a class-action lawsuit in Pinellas County court against David’s Bridal.
It seeks $500 for every unsolicited text sent to every person in Florida by the store.
WESH 2 News reached out to David’s Bridal for comment on the lawsuit. So far, the company has not responded.
Aul hopes to send a clear message to companies who call or text without permission
“I’m no longer willing to tolerate any company or entity’s bad behavior,” Aul said.
Howard believes the lawsuit will have a big impact.
“Without class actions, big companies will go on breaking the law,” Howard said.
According to court records, David’s Bridal has filed a motion to dismiss the class-action lawsuit claiming Florida’s new law to crack down on telemarketers is unconstitutional.
