Sarah Markley  |  June 26, 2017

Category: Consumer News

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California call recordingThe popular discount retailer 99 Cents Only may not be abiding by California law if they are recording telephone calls without the consent of customers.

99 Cents Only is a widespread discount retail store that has stores in California, Nevada, Texas and Arizona, with the majority of its stores being in Southern California. It is based in the city of Commerce, California and prides itself on being one of the first “dollar” stores, using the “magic number” of “99” to gain customers and brand recognition.

99 Cents Only stores have been successful and have weathered the economic downturn of 2008 by closing some of its Texas stores. Recently, they have reported strong financial standings.

Despite the popularity of 99 Cents Only stores, the retailer may not be operating lawfully under California and federal privacy laws if they are recording telephone calls of customers who call into a customer service line.

Laws Governing Recording Telephone Calls

According to California privacy laws, both parties on a phone call must give consent if a call is going to be recorded. Federal law is a little more lax, only requiring one party to be aware.

However, California laws governing recording telephone calls are more strict than their federal counterparts. In fact, the state constitution of California establishes the right to privacy.

What this means is that both the caller and the party being called must be fully aware that a call is being recorded. If this is not true, the recorder may be liable for up to $5,000 per violation. In the past, companies have been ordered to pay multi-million dollar settlements because of recording telephone calls unlawfully.

In a customer service context, often this “consent” simply means that a recorded message at the front end of a phone call to a customer service line may say something like, “This call may be recorded or monitored for training purposes.” Many companies record calls like this so that they can improve their customer service practices.

If a customer chooses to stay on the line, this implies consent for recording. If a customer service line does not have this and are recording telephone calls, they may be in violation of California privacy laws and the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

These laws also apply to outgoing calls such as those from debt collectors. If a debt collector or other outgoing caller makes a practice of recording telephone calls and does not inform the customer, that company may be in violation of California privacy laws.

Filing a Call Recording Lawsuit

If you are a California resident and called a 99 Cents Only store but did not receive a warning that your call may be recorded, that call may have been recorded in violation of California privacy laws.

You may be entitled to compensation and may benefit from speaking to an experienced attorney regarding this.

Join a FREE California Call Recording Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you live in California and you did not receive a warning when calling a toll-free number, your call may have been recorded in violation of California law, and you may be entitled to compensation. See if you qualify to file a California call recording class action lawsuit.

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