Court Finds Text Message Offering Link to Dinner “Specials” Was Not Telemarketing Because the Customer Already Had a Dinner Reservation
Imagine sitting at home and receiving a text message from a restaurant inviting you to view their nightly dinner specials. That’s pretty clearly telemarketing, right? Now, imagine that you first called the restaurant to make a dinner reservation for that evening and also provided your cell phone number. The restaurant then sends you the exact same text message. What result? In a new decision from the Eastern District of California, Judge John A. Mendez held that such text messages are not telemarketing and are expressly permitted by the diner when the diner provides his or her phone number to the restaurant in connection with the dinner reservation.