Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Florida Car Dealership of Spam Texting

A Florida resident has filed a car dealership spam texting class action lawsuit against Betancourt Auto Sales Corp., claiming that the business sent spam text messages to him and many other individuals.

The Betancourt TCPA class action lawsuit was filed by Alan M., who says that he received two text messages from Betancourt, which were advertising the Florida car dealership’s goods and services. Alan says that these messages were sent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. He seeks damages on behalf of himself and a class of all other individuals who received similar messages without their consent, and on behalf of another class who did not consent to receive the messages and whose numbers were registered on the National Do Not Call list.

Alan claims that the first message he received read “Welcome to Betancourt Auto Sales’s customers information channel. To CANCEL future texts, please reply STOP.” Allegedly, the second message read “Need a Car? Necesita un Carro? Check out our inventory: www.betancourtautosales.com/inventory/ Call Simone 770-568-4222.”

The car dealership spam texting message class action lawsuit asserts that these messages violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because the law prohibits businesses from sending telemarketing messages to individuals without their consent. Allegedly, the messages from Betancourt constituted telemarketing because they were designed to advertise goods and services, and were general messages sent to many people.

Alan says that he never gave his consent for Betancourt to send him messages, meaning the messages were unlawful per the restrictions of the TCPA. He says the messages were also in violation because his cell phone number was registered to the National Do Not Call Registry. According to Alan, the TCPA prohibits businesses from sending messages and calls to numbers registered on a Do Not Call list.

The Betancourt telemarketing spam text class action lawsuit says that the Florida car dealership further violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending the messages using an automatic dialing system, which the law prohibits. 

According to the Florida car dealership spam texting class action lawsuit, Betancourt used a platform that allows them to send messages to many numbers at once, as well as schedule and send messages without human involvement. Alan says that Betancourt’s use of such a messaging platform fell under the TCPA’s restrictions around use of an automatic dialing machine.

Alan’s TCPA class action lawsuit claims that he suffered actual injury from Betancourt’s choice to send the messages. Allegedly, these messages caused him invasions of privacy, aggravation, annoyance, intrusion on seclusion, trespass, and conversion. Alan says that he was inconvenienced by the messages, claiming that the messages disrupted his daily life. 

Additionally, the plaintiff says that he spent around fifteen minutes investigating who had sent him the messages and trying to determine how the car dealership obtained his number.

Unfortunately, stories like Alan’s are all too common. Almost every individual receives some kind of spam call, text or voicemail, and the frequency of telemarketing is only increasing. For instance, Business Insider says that Americans received 26.3 billion robocalls in 2018, marking a 46 percent increase from the previous year.

The Betancourt TCPA Violation Class Action Lawsuit is Alan Melillo v. Betancourt Auto Sales Corp., Case No. 1:19-cv-25175, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Join a Free Car Dealership TCPA Violations Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

You may be eligible to join this lawsuit investigation into car dealership TCPA violations under the following circumstances:

• You did NOT provide express permission in writing to the car dealership to receive the calls or messages.
  You did NOT purchase a vehicle from the dealership that is contacting you.

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