The Future Looks Bright: Eyebuydirect Wins TCPA Dismissal
If you've ever replied “STOP” to a marketing text, you probably expected the messages to end immediately. But what happens if a few more slip through? Is that a class action waiting to happen?
Not necessarily, according to a recent decision from the Northern District of New York. In Hulett v. Eyebuydirect, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-996 (AMN/MJK), 2025 WL 3880892 (N.D.N.Y. June 13, 2025), the plaintiff sued online eyewear retailer Eyebuydirect under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) after receiving three text messages over a span of nine days (seven business days) after opting out. But the court found that the delay in honoring the opt-out request was not unreasonable and dismissed the case.
The plaintiff claimed that Eyebuydirect did not have had proper internal procedures in place as required under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d), which requires companies to maintain written policies, train their staff, and honor do-not-call requests within a “reasonable time,” not to exceed 30 days.* The issue? He never actually asked for a copy of the internal do-not-call policy, and the court wasn’t willing to infer systemic failures based on a short delay alone.
The court pointed to prior cases where short delays in honoring opt-outs were held to be reasonable as a matter of law. While some courts have found that continued marketing texts after an opt-out can support a claim, that typically depends on longer or repeated delays or additional facts suggesting broader noncompliance. Here, the allegations rested solely on a delay that the court concluded could not overcome a motion to dismiss.
This case is a reminder that TCPA compliance does not always demand instant action, just reasonable procedures and follow-through. And if a plaintiff wants to challenge those procedures, step one should probably be asking for the policy.
*Note: At the time the plaintiff received the texts, companies had to honor do-not-call requests within a “reasonable time,” not to exceed 30 days. Now companies must honor such requests within a “reasonable time,” not to exceed 10 business days.