Can I sue if I once gave my number?

Consent isn’t a permanent signature

A lot of people assume that because they once handed over their number, whether at checkout, in a form, or for a coupon, they’ve given up any right to complain about the texts that follow. That’s not how it works. Consent to receive marketing texts can be taken back, and the law recognizes your right to revoke it whenever you want.

So if you signed up, got tired of the texts, and told the company to stop, you’ve changed the picture. From that point on, the company no longer has your permission. Texts it keeps sending are no longer covered by the yes you once gave. They’re potential violations.

How to revoke consent

You don’t need a lawyer or a specific form to revoke consent. The cleanest way is to reply STOP, the universal opt-out keyword a legitimate sender has to honor. But you’re not limited to that one word. Telling a company to “stop texting me,” “remove me from your list,” or “quit contacting me,” by text, by phone, or in writing, can also revoke consent.

What matters is that you made a clear request to stop. STOP is best because it leaves an obvious, time-stamped record, which is exactly what you want if the texts keep coming.

You also don’t have to revoke consent the same way you gave it. People sometimes assume that because they opted in through a website form, they have to dig up some online setting to opt out. You don’t. A reply of STOP to the text, a phone call, or a written request can all revoke consent, regardless of how the company first got your yes. The law is on the side of the simplest path: tell them to stop, in whatever way is easiest, and keep a record of it. For more on this, see how a spam text claim works once you’ve opted out.

What happens if they keep texting

This is where a yes you once gave can flip into a strong claim. Once you’ve revoked consent, every text that arrives afterward can be its own violation worth $500, and because the company ignored a clear request to stop, those texts often qualify for the higher $1,500 amount. They stack, so a company that keeps going after your opt-out can build a real claim out of its own refusal to listen.

It’s a common worry that having signed up somehow weakens your position. In practice it can do the opposite. The fact that you opted in and then clearly opted out makes the sender’s continued texting harder to excuse. There’s a record of you saying yes, then no, then the company texting anyway. That sequence is the kind of thing that looks willful.

How to protect your claim

If the texts are still coming after you’ve tried to opt out, a few simple steps protect what you may be owed. Don’t delete the thread. You want a record that shows your original signup if you have it, your STOP or revocation, and every message that came afterward. Screenshot each one with the sender’s number and the date and time. The post-revocation messages are usually the most valuable, so capture all of them.

Then get a free review with Max Morgan, Esq., a real TCPA attorney, who can tell you whether you’re owed something. He works on contingency nationwide, with no fee unless you recover, and the review costs you nothing. Every case is different, so the only way to know is to ask. To see what these claims have produced, look at our past settlements.

Related: I replied STOP and they kept texting · What makes a marketing text illegal · Can I sue for spam texts? · Do I qualify?