Los Angeles, CA: A class action lawsuit has been filed against Walmart stores alleging the discount retailer is in violation of the Telephone Consumer protection Act (TCPA) because it made unsolicited, automated calls to a customer' cell phone at least 33 times over an 11-day period.
Filed by David Dubanoski, the proposed class action claims the plaintiff received the first unsolicited phone call on November 26, and these calls continued through to December 6, 2014. All the calls, according to the complaint, regards a Walmart credit card that Dubanoski does not have.
According to the complaint, Dubanoski received one prerecorded voice message asking him to return the call or visit the store's credit card website. When Dubanoski called the number provided in the message, an artificial or recorded voice asked for his Wal-Mart credit card number. Since he's never had one, he didn't enter one and was then asked to provide his Social Security number, the complaint states.
Upon refusing to provide this information, Dubanoski was forwarded to an operator who asked him for his telephone number but not his name. Upon receiving Dubanoski's phone number, the operator told him she didn't know why Walmart had tried to contact him and assured him his information would be removed from the contact list, the complaint states. However, it was only hours later when he received another automated call.
Dubanoski alleges the calls were not intended for him, because he did not provide Walmart with permission to call his cellphone. He further claims that the calls are part of a pattern of TCPA violations by the retailer.
The lawsuit seeks to represent anyone in the US who, in the past four years, received automated phone calls to their cellphones from Walmart without having given Walmart prior permission and were not the intended recipient.
The case is Dubanoski v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., case number 4:15-cv-00042, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
