At issue are 53 pre-recorded, vague, unsolicited voicemails left on our client's cell phone from July 2010 to March 2011 by Capital One. The Langel Firm will allege that Capital One violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"), which generally outlaws unsolicited, autodialed, artificial, or pre-recorded calls to cell phones, home lines, and fax machines without first having obtained the recipients' consent.
The voicemails that will form the basis of our case were identical in form, computer generated, and originated from random cities across the country.
The voicemails state:
"Hi, this is Linda. We have some opportunities that might be available to you at Capital One. Please call me back today at 1-800-955-6500 to discuss them. Thank you. Goodbye."
We will allege that these voicemails were dialed automatically and contain an artificial voice and contain a pre-recorded message, all prohibited methods absent our client's prior EXPRESS CONSENT to be called in such a fashion.
Our client contends that he provided no such express consent to be harassed by these repetitive, unsolicited calls. It will be hard for Capital One to argue that the above calls were not unsolicited. The specific language that "we have some opportunities that might be available to you at Capital One could only be reasonably construed as invitations to additional offers. Had Capital One included language such as "related to your account," it might have a leg to stand on to rebut our claim of their unsolicited nature.
It turns out that Capital One is no stranger to allegations of unlawful telemarketing harassment. On December 10, 2012, a Judicial Panel in the matter of In re: Capital One Telephone Consumer Protection Litigation centralized 31 cases to the Northern District of Illinois, wherein consumers allege that Capital One willfully violated the TCPA. The Langel Firm is examining its options to redress our client's injuries in light of the compulsory consolidation of cases Illinois.