Class Action Suit Filed Against Edible Arrangements Over Promo Texts

Elizabeth DiNardo, Esq.
Legal Staff Writer

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, many companies will be flooding the inboxes of consumers’ email and social media accounts with promotional offers. However, one popular company, Edible Arrangements, might be holding back on its consumer text message promotions this year after a punitive class action suit was filed against the company in New Jersey federal court on February 1, 2017.

Named plaintiff in the suit, Nicole Rando, accuses the fruit-basket delivery company of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when it failed to cease sending her promotional text messages, despite her repeated requests to have the communication stop. According to the plaintiff, she gave the company her consent to contact her via text in December 2016; however, not long after she started receiving messages from the company, Rando asked to be taken off the subscription list. Rando insists that she replied to the messages saying, “take my contact info off please” and “I asked to be removed from this service a few times. Stop the messages.” However, despite her clear and unequivocal protestations, the defendant continued to message the plaintiff.

Edible Arrangements addressed the plaintiff’s alleged texts asking to be taken off the communication list, stating the only way to unsubscribe from the service is to reply to a text with the word “STOP.” This very specific un-subscription process, while outwardly appearing quite simple, is in fact, plaintiff argues, a violation of the Telephone Communication Protection Act. The Act states that consumers may revoke consent to communication by any reasonable method, both oral and written.

Plaintiff is seeking statutory damages for all affected consumers equaling $500 for each Telephone Consumer Protection Act violation and up to $1,500 for statutory violations that are proven to be willful on the part of Edible Arrangements. Additionally, the suit seeks an injunction against Edible Arrangements sending out further text messages.

The Case Is: Rando v. Edible Arrangements International LLC, case number 1:17-cv-00701, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

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