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Subscribe to RSSLove them or hate them, strip joints have a timeless allure – but that didn’t stop one club from adopting a new strategy to lure men inside.
“It was harassment, it was constantly, every single day for awhile, sometimes more than once a day,” Bret Lusskin said.
He is talking about spam text messages he says he got from Tootsie’s Cabaret in Miami Gardens.
See video, read the original story at NBCMiami.com
“There’s no way to stop it, you just start getting text messages every single day and what are you gonna do?” Lusskin asked. “Something has to be done, and clearly they just unrepentantly took advantage of people that night, they never told anybody that it was a marketing ploy.”
Lusskin is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed against the club’s parent company, alleging that Tootsie’s “surreptitiously obtained” dozens of cell phone numbers from patrons by holding a contest. The winner received a Rolex. Participants just had to fill out a form and include their cell number.
“We allege that they advertised the watch in order to lure people into providing their cell phone numbers,” said attorney Scott Owens, who filed the suit.
Within days, Lusskin said, he started receiving the text ads. Over more than a year, he got more than 280 in all.
“I didn’t win anything, all I did was get freaking hundreds of text messages,” he said. “I would not have signed if it had told me that I was going to be getting bombarded by text message solicitations from them.”
The lawsuit alleges that what Tootsie’s did violates federal law, specifically the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which stipulates a $500 fine for every violation.
“With the 280 messages times a hundred people times $500 per message, you’re talking in excess of $10 million for this class action lawsuit,” Owens said.
Tootsie’s refused to comment on the issue. The club’s lawyer told NBC 6 it is company policy never to comment on pending litigation.
His court filings make clear that he does not think the suit has any merit. In them, he writes repeatedly that the defendants deny the allegations.
NBC 6 had no luck trying to bring a camera anywhere near the club, even while standing on public property nearby.
“Uh, you can’t point it at the front door, guys,” said a man in a suit who walked up to NBC 6’s team. He stood in front of the camera to block the shot.
If you text, there is a good chance you have received text spam, such as the junk cars message that is currently going around.
Priscilla Perez says her 12-year-old son got a text from Tootsie’s.
“I got mad, actually, and I felt like he was being violated,” she said. “How do you send him this message, 12 years old, come to Tootsie’s?”
Owens says if you get a junk text, do not respond to it. Instead, save it for evidence, and call the Federal Communications Commission to report it.
Lusskin said his texts from Tootsie’s stopped only after he sued the club.
“As we’ve seen in this case, it can get out of control, so someone has to stand against that tide before it turns into email spam, where it just proliferates to the point that text messaging is just useless,” he said.
More on the Web: Get information on how to file a complaint with the FCC here.
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Leave a Comment:
That's what happens when you give out personal info. And how'd they get a 12 year old's #? Maybe dad knows...
Randy,,,,son, if you get a call,,,don"t tell mom!
Randall Flagg? i knew Randle Flag, and you sir are no Randel Flag,
Conned by some guy pimping titties? The outrage! A new scam every day!
It may have been a new phone number for the kid, and the strip club got the number from the previous customer.
As for the guy suing, I am normally against the sue happy, but this guy is my hero. I only give my cell number to close friends & family, yet I keep getting a company in Canada trying to sell me a security system. 3 or 4 calls / texts a day. Wish I could sue them!
My guess is that somewhere in the fine print of the contest rules people agreed to receive these messages. People never bother to read the fine print, particularly on contest and sweepstakes entries, they are more focused on trying to get something for nothing. Well, nothing in life is free and putting up with spam marketing is the price for entering many contests. As for the kid getting the messages, I think Mom needs to have a talk with Dad. Dad probably used the kid's number to submit an extra entry to improve his odds on winning the Rolex.
Not that it would have any impact on this situation, but I think that text messages to cell phones should be included as part of the "do not call" prohibition against unwanted advertising calls.
Why is it automatically dad's fault? You never put down a fake phone number on a contest entry? What's more plausible? Dad out his son's number down and risked getting in trouble and exposed his son to pron? Or is it more plausible that someone there didn't want to give out their cell phone number and made one up with the correct area code? Kind of lame to blame the dad without any evidence at all.
Hmm. Lets see here.
You go to a strip club and while you are mesmerized by bouncing boobies and drinking beer you give your cell phone # to a....... naked girl (wild guess)!!!! Why wouldn't Ya!!!!
Now, you get daily spam from the same place you gave the cell# to the girl with bouncing boobies. Go figure!?!
You think, they might be looking to get another visit from you? Perhaps to ask to have their now embarrassing spam to stop??
Definitely sue!! While your at it also sue cell phone company to for being stupid enough to give you a phone in the first place.
................. is born everyday!!!!!
The point is, it's not OK. The invasion into our privacy has reached critical levels. Don't roll over and accept it as something that we all must live with. I'm glad that these people are standing up to this scourge.
But, were the girls hot?
By what this guy says, they were holding a drawing with cell phone numbers, and the winner gets a Rolex. Y'know, those fancy, expensive watches. They don't tell them that they're going to use the numbers maliciously, no signed consents to what they're actually going to use it for. The sheer bile my fellow humans spew at each other is appalling... have some frelling compassion. What they did was illegal, and they need to pay the price.
You'd be tweaked too if you gave your number to someone and they started using it without your consent. Try to think of the ramifications this will set up if they DON'T Get sued for this. Look ahead, rather than laughing at peoples undeserved despair. Otherwise next time it can be, and probably will be, you.
CiCi & others - look up "project narwhal" on the internet. A quite large organization has adopted a plan to do much the same thing over the next few months. Seems that we may have sold our souls for the convenience of cell phones.
Have kid print out the emails and bring them in for show and tell. Teacher will immediately give kid and A for the year.
f*** a cell phone, f*** a credit card, f*** all banksters, fu** facebook, fu** twitter, who needs these 5 main systems that spread your info around to people for free and for profits and keep tabs on your every move. But hey convenience is worth giving up your privacy right. Cancel your phones, your plastic cards, pull your money out the bank, cancel your facebook and twitter, and live like your ancestors. It's not like they didn't survive without these garbage companies. You continue to support the crooked companies and then complain about what they do. How about stop using their services and take a stand against their immoral practices. We can bring a change but only if you practice change.
Gamer,
While we're at it, let's dump our cars, buy a horse, shut of heat and electric and trap animals to barder with their pelts for food. Great idea! You get right on that and let us know how it turns out for you!
The text outta come with free admission to the joint..
Another group of people wanting the courts to save them from their own stupidity. Nothing new here.
@gamer4life,
Looks like you use a computer. Why not add that to you list? O, cause that would interfere with your lifestyle?
@JS in SD:
I can't recall the last time anyone read the fine print of a contest when they were in a STRIP CLUB!!
Personally speaking, I'm usually paying close attention to the entertainment...not fumbling around with my $9.99 mass-produced specticles, double checking to see if my cell phone number will be used for spamming! I know...shame on me!
The fact that they happened to give out their cell phone # at a strip club for a contest, and then their personal information was used to spam them without their consent or knowledge is the issue here. The fact that they were at a strip club is incidental. It sounds like some of you think the people should be punished just for having gone to a strip club, and anything that happens to them as a result is just their own bad judgement, I guess? What if you went to the grocery store and someone offered you a chance to win a prize in a contest, and you didn't win anything but intead started getting daily txt messages from this grocery store. Would THAT be OK? If nobody naked was involved, would it then seem wrong to you?
Nice try jayberg. What did these idiots think would be the result when they "just happened" to give out their cell # at a strip club?
schoolyard and dano except a computer only holds the data that i put on it unlike all those accounts that force you to put your personal information on them if you want to use them. I never said to quit your job and not make money either I just said to keep your money out of the banks but you just keep feeding them your money and wonder why their foothold on your life wont go away. I guess that you forget that cash rules everything around you not some plastic. Hmm cars keep all your personal information on them and pass them out to big business go figure I never knew that maybe its because I drive a old truck that has zero computer systems on it. I also even ride a bike, skateboard, or even walk if i need to go to the store that is less then a half mile away as is common in most cities but that's why I'm skinny. You probably get in a car to drive a half mile down the road to get a soda because you are lazy and its more convenient. Americans health even back up my claims of how your conveniences cost you a lot more then just your privacy.
I would say that the woman's twelve-year old is the key to the case. And I hope the club loses, not particularly because I'm on a great moral crusade (we all know how prohibitions tend to work, including prohibiting strip clubs) but because I want spam to be considered to have very low free-speech protection as commercial rather than political or personal speech, and a precedent to be set where I DO NOT start getting texts from groceries, appliance stores, home centers, etc. I consider all such stuff to be invasions of my now almost-nonexistent right to privacy. If abortion rights are based on "privacy", then "privacy" ought to be based on privacy, too. Never been in a joint well-lit enough to give informed consent based on a signature. (Of course, they hold you to what you signed when you're trying to pass a kidney stone, so who knows).
Most comments here refer to the contacts as unwanted, sorry when you give your number and sign it there's fine print that says's "all entries become the property of". So Moron, you requested it, they can prove a prior relationship, you can just prove stupid. The only question is an opt out clause. What do people expect the courts to relieve them of responsibility. Just own up to your mistake. Besides there isn't enough info in the story, it doesn't say how many times he tried to opt out or even if he did at all, just that they stopped after the lawsuit.
People should get a percentage of each violation that a company commits, but knowing the way our Government operates, they want it all for themselves because we all know there’s plenty of “worthy” ways to waste violation money like the renovation of mosques in the middle east. Google it if you don't believe me!
Contests, phony or not, have been used for decades in order to get addresses or phone numbers. Indeed, this is one way that telemarketers can get around the "do not call" list because once you have given them your phone number you have established a relationship with them and it is now legal for them to call you. Notice that when you sign up on-line for many services you are also establishing that the provider may give your email address out to selected third parties (i.e. anyone who pays enough) and not all such alow you to opt out. The practice goes back long enough that the courts have protected it. The only issue here is if it is costing him to recieve text messages. If not, then he has no case.
concerned parent of 2: Way to kill a perfectly good joke.
Publishers Clearing House is far worse...I recently signed up with them - the rules said you didn't have to buy anything, but, to stay eligible, you have to Search product sites from their Search site/engine. It's all that Sold On TV crap. Every day I get 2 to 4 emails a day saying I missed out on the last drawing because I didn't Search for anything...duh...maybe I better start counting how many times they email me - according to the article, the sue'r thinks the amount they contact you equals a bigger pay out in Court.
The Boobie Bar scene is past its glory days, last one I went in had two dancers and three patrons...big wow - some party. With free boobies just a click away - why pay to see them?
Sound like a strip club my ex-husband use to go to about every night of the week. He would get text all day from the strippers, he would pay for services rendered with my credit card. One afternoon I got a call from the Discover fraud line. It seems one of the little bimbos from the club copied down the card number and all the important info, she charged a $2000.00 bottle of champagne, then food, and other items the club sold. Discover said the champagne had been keyed in the card had not been swiped. I took this info to the small town police department where the club was located and tried to press charges. Since the small town got a lot of tax revenue not one thing was done. Discover took off all the charges. But the club wanted their money since it was my credit card. I told them have their bouncers go after my then husband and get their money any way they can. So sending multiple texts a day does not surprise me at all.
Hope the guys win the suit.
Other than these idiots/defendants, has anyone ever entered a raffle using their cell phone # in place of a raffle ticket!! Not putting it on the back for the Boy Scouts or the Elks Lodge, we have all done that. Like at a strip club!! I agree the situation sucks but, like a three year old, learn and move on. What happens if you lose your credit card? It sucks, but you deal with it. These guy's didn't lose a credit card, they willingly gave out the info. I just can't see the basis of a law suit.
He next time, when a girl with big cans ask you for your cell #, why not just give her your credit card, ss#, a blank check and the enrty code to your garage.
Sorry plaintiffs.
So, these fine, up-standing examples of law-abiding, morally superior Citizens are crying about a business doing what it feels is necessary to get more customers...... They should have read the contest rule, yes, even the fine print at the very bottom of the back-side of the page, before they signed that consent form "disguised" as a contest entry form. There is only one thing that I have to say to these losers.
Boo hoo.
draainbramage -- they should be legally compelled to change the name to "publishers' spamming house".
Can someone file a class action against 'Rachel at card member services'. The chick is just driving me crazy.
I wonder how many of these numbers are senators and reps?
"give me politics or give me death"......i mean really...........go to first read.
Gee sounds like a "Hunny i don't know how they got my email' to me........ how bout you?
seriously tho this is what is wrong today...frivolous lawsuits by get rich quick lowers that are totally and complete B.S., this clown needs a smack upside the head, like his ol lady was about to give him before he went this route.
right...how crazy of someone to demand a company follow Federal Laws. You got it. Following laws is so "last decade"...the nerve.
They were text messages....these idiots gave out their cell phone numbers! And there were more than one clown.
They gave their cell phone numbers to a strip club to win a Rolex. What did they think the club wanted with their numbers? In this day and age, it's mind-boggling to think that there are still people among us that are sooooo stupid, they have never heard of "Never click on a link from an unsolicited email." or "Never give out your SS# or bank account # over the phone." or "Never answer a call from an unlisted number around dinnertime." or "Don't allow a Nigerian to deposit 5 million dollars into your bank account." And "They called my 12 year old son."? Sorry, I'd have to see proof of that claim. Just how did they get HIS number? Did he enter the contest (from a strip club)? How? Was he there? And where were you, 'suddenly' concerned parent, while your 12 year old was entering a contest from the strip club? Why didn't you take that phone to the police with the very first text message/advertisement on it, and have them put a stop to it? I am against spamming of any kind, especially via text messages, but they knew who they were dealing with, they entered the contest of their own free will, it was a legit contest (someone won), none of them, apparently, tried to do anything to stop it until they saw a 10 million dollar 'payday' on their horizon. If I was the judge-to-be, I'd say "(Strip club) will you never call these people again?" "We won't, Your Honor." "Case dismissed."
I think the missing detail here is that the winner of the rolex wasn't decided on that very night they filled out the forms. They gave their REAL phone numbers so that the Strip club would be able to reach them in the event that they had won the ROLEX. The implicit approval those who filled out the forms gave was for the Strip Club to contact them in the event that they won, and not for any other purpose. This is of course a popular marketing gimmick that virtually every company out there, even the NBA, is guilty of! Yet, what the strip club did was even more egregious when it failed to provide adequate avenue for clients to opt out of being spammed! The Strip Club MUST pay somehow. If I were a judge, I wouldn't just "dismiss" this one.
Either daddy has been getting lap dances or mommy is a pole slider.
congratulations poker....you got it...you may now have a cookie.........:)
LA Scooter - sending 280 text messages is obnoxious! And for those of us who text once or twice a year, and therefore get charged .20 to .40 cents per incoming text because we don't pay for unlimited plans, it can be the owner of the phone who pays a hefty price for getting those text ads.
I am glad he and others are suing, I hope they win big, and I hope it will stop other scammers from texting their stupid commercials and advertisments.
Bashfull,,,AMEN!
you got that backwards.
Don't ya believe in wrong numbers? 1 or 16 a day?
would your wife?
Ia scootertramp,,,playhouse midnight!
Seems like this guy was born in the dark. One wonders how the guy reacted to a lap dance.
A person needs to be incredibly naive to voluntarily write their telephone number on an entry form for a contest without expecting the info to go for some sort of marketing purposes. Seems likely that he couldn't resist the temptation of potentially winning a Rolex, so he provided personal identifying info. I would find fault with club if the guy can prove he sent a cease and desist letter to them but they continued to send the texts anyway.
Maybe he met the lawyer in the bar?
just one more!
You go to a strip club. You you give them your cell phone number of your own freewill. And then you sue them when/because they call/text you. And you didn't think that they would?
And you did it because of your own greed? A Rolex watch?
Huh? Can I get a copy of the list of these people? I want to go kick them in the .... ! That way they will not be able to have children and spread this stupidity into the gene pool.
This is almost as bad as the lawsuit that lady(?) filed against McDonnalds for not telling her that her hot coffee was hot. And blamed them for her being burnt by it when she spilled it on herself.
Come on people.
Well, you have almost 25% of the facts in the McDonalds case correct. Maybe you should read up on the rest...you will probably change your mind.
So let me see if I have this straight. ... You think that if I give out my cell phone number to anyone, they are then entitled to call or text me any time and and as much as they want. You're saying that if someone obtains a cell phone number, the owner of that number has to surrender all their rights because ....?
As the article stated this club refused to abide by the wishes of the patron and stop calling and texting until they were threatened with litigation. Why is this a frivolous suit? This is exactly what tort law is supposed to do. Maybe the next business that gets a bright idea on how to start harassing their customers will think twice. Just because someone has information does not endow them with the right to use that information any way they see fit.
And I concur with jbfans, you showed your ignorance by commenting on the McDonald's hot coffee case. That jury awarded substantial damages because it was shown in court that the defendants knew they had a serious safety issue, had paid off numerous prior cases of injuries to employees and customers, and chose to ignore the danger with callous disregard for the potential severe bodily injury (third degree burns) their product caused.
No, you don't surrender your rights when you hand out your cell phone number, e-mail address, or physical address. There are plenty of legal systems in place like restraining orders to stop unwanted people from contacting you. The do not call list comes to mind, but after entering a contest, there was an established business relationship allowing calls (I don't know how texts play into that). I am willing to bet that the fine print talked about marketing, as they always do anytime you list anything like that on a form. What is going to get the club in trouble, is if they didn't have a mechanism to opt out of the messages.
What's even better is if you read the article above (I didn't read the source article) it went from sign up, to text spam, to lawsuit. There didn't appear to be any attempt to solve this without lawyers. I think someone just smelled a payday and jumped at the chance. Who knows, they may get something for nothing, just not the Rolex...
If the purpose of gathering the phone number was listed as for being able to contact the winner, they were out of bounds to use it for any other purposes. Furthermore, if there was no written notice that the phone numbers would also be used for marketing or other contact on the slips, or the display area or contest drop-box, or otherwise nearby, then they did not have permission to use the information gathered in that way.
“I would not have signed if it had told me that I was going to be getting bombarded by text message solicitations from them,” is what the plaintiff says.
It didn't exactly go from sign-up to text to lawsuit, either. The main guy received texts for over a year, 280 in total. Unfortunately there is no information in this article or the one linked to from NBC (which as the same exact content) on if he tried to opt out, but part of the problem may lie in that there was no opt-out option in the messages (text STOP to unsubscribe). If he even made one phone call to the club, or brought the issue up on a subsequent walk-in visit, the texts should have stopped within two or three days, and I find it hard to believe that he would to go the trouble and expense of a lawsuit without at least contacting the strip-club once to ask them to stop (since doing so could easily get the lawsuit dismissed, and there is a professional lawyer involved here who probably wants to win so he gets paid well, and he would have checked on that if he's worth the paper his diploma is printed on).
K, I'm pretty much on the same page, but you're making assumptions that aren't substantiated in the article.
I'd like to see that fine print on the contract to see what the plaintiffs agreed to when they dropped the form in the box. I'd also like to know if the plaintiffs read the fine print, and knew what they were getting into. Finally, I'd like to know if any of them made any attempt whatsoever to stop the messages rather than just pick their phone up when it beeped, cursed, any prayed to the texting gods that this would be the last one.
None of these things are specified in the article, but I'm going to bet on the business in the absence of the information because I'm willing to bet that they also consulted a lawyer before the contest started, and the lawyer signed off on it.
Wouldn't whether or not this falls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act depend on what information and details that piece of paper had on it on which the cell number and other information was provided and if the people who were getting the texts asked the company to stop?
But regardless, while I understand that marketing relies on people seeing an ad many times before they respond - sending out that many text messages seems as though it would be counter productive and make people more mad than want to come back to your business.
I was wondering why the ol'lady kept asking me what time it was!
what makes it worse is that the US is the only country in the world you have to pay to receive text messages.
they shouldn't have been going to a strip club anyway, serves them right for having no morals or values.
If you are a homosexual or a woman...then the second half of your statement makes sense.
where do morals come into play here? and as for the homosexual and woman statement you are an id10t.
In this case, it comes into play with the attitude, "You did something that I disapprove of on moral grounds, so now nothing that ever happens to you can be bad enough to suit me." Sort of like, "Serves the bastard right to get run over in the street, hope that he dies or is paralyzed, after all, fool was jaywalking." "Or I'm glad he got lung cancer, after all, he was a pack a day smoker." More like moralism than actual morals.
I bet if those texts came with free nudity pics of Tootsies girls they would'nt of cared.
Personally, I only give my phone number to the strippers I actually want to have call me.
I can live without the spam BS myself but,,,,,280 texts in "over a year" can hardly be called "bombarded"
Couldn't you just imagine your wife checking your phone messages!!!
Funny how this article names everybody -- EXCEPT the owners of Tootsies. Why not name them?
Hope these jerks running the club go broke. Otherwise everybody receiving these text should send texts everyday to screw with them.
I hate strip clubs, except the naked women part. Really, Professional sports events, casinos, strip clubs are a JOKE! I'd much rather spend my hard earned money picking up a 12 pack on my way to a friends house for b-b-q and a NFL game on t.v.
Just come out and say it. You didn't want your wife/girlfriend knowing you were going to tootsies.
Sounds like its being overblown. Yes, I don't like unwanted text solicitations myself but a class action suit? Did someone ask the club to stop it before it got to this? Sounds like a few people got caught with their pants down...so to speak.
And the kid thing...'I felt like he was being violated?!' It's not naked girls on his phone. It said 'come to Tootsies!' Can we overdo things in this country or not!
This is exactly why this country sucks ppl get all these bs lawsuits going over nothing, if u let some stupid text bug u then u shouldnt be alive
tittes or totsies maybe the wife or girlfriend might catch on to his accivities and to negate his actions is to whine about it and of course make the internet news want some cheese with your whine?
#1.) Who in their right mind would give their personal info just so they could win a watch.
#2.) The woman says her 12 year old got a text. That means "dad" used the kid's number!!
#3.) In response to a poster who queried as to the "hot" factor of the women at this establishment: Waaay Hot!
#4.) I didn't realize you could file a class action suit for being STUPID! What happened, his wife find out?
Why does a 12 year kid need a cell phone?
No child needs a cell phone. What are parents doing?
So when they are at a Strip Club they can try to win a rolex.. Also, hey Dummy cell phone number givers, the one who won the Rolex was rigged before the contest even started lol
Used to be one born every minute & now it's everyone that is born
ahh at least a somewhat realistic lawsuit here. I was afraid when I read the article title that when I clicked it I was going to read that dudes were suing for equal opportunity employment rights....phew!