Class-action lawsuits filed by area florists
and consumers against an out-of-town telemarketing firm
using local names and phone numbers to snare business away
from legitimate local businesses have claimed a major victory.
They have driven a New Jersey telemarketer out of business.
TTP, doing business as Flowers With Gifted Elegance, has
filed for bankruptcy.
The filing comes about a year after Gladstone Flowers filed
a class-action lawsuit charging the telemarketer with using
deceptive business practices. The bankruptcy filing occurred
Aug. 17, three days before a Clay County Circuit Court
was to consider a motion by Gladstone Flowers to certify
the case as a class action.
That case and a similar lawsuit filed in Clay County by
consumers affected by the telemarketing scheme have been
put on hold pending the outcome of the bankruptcy case.
Here is how the telemarketing system worked. An out-of-area
company purchased a listing in the phone book identical
to that of a local florist such as Gladstone Florist. The
result was two listings in the Kansas City white pages
with the same business name. One had an address; one did
not. A person calling the number without an address, usually
the first listing, unknowingly talked to an out-of-state
telemarketer. If an order was placed, it was referred to
another area florist and filled. The out-of-area telemarketer
tacked on a handling fee. In addition, the sending service,
such as FTD or Teleflora, would capture 20 percent of the
order.
“The primary objective of both lawsuits
is to get TTP out of Missouri,” said Gregory Leyh
of Gladstone, the attorney for both class-action lawsuits. “TTP
cheats by pretending to be a local florist so it can fool
consumers and steal the legitimate business of Missouri
florists. At least for now, TTP is no longer in the floral
business in Missouri.”
TTP's president, Thomas Meola, said the company could no
longer afford the cost of defending the lawsuits.
“This is a victory for us,” said Debbie Fulton,
owner of Gladstone Florist on North Oak Trafficway. “We
noticed our business began to pick up this summer, when
it is normally down. Then we found out that the telemarketer
had disconnected the phone.”
Leyh said there was a possibility local florists could
collect damages once the bankruptcy was completed, but
the odds were not great.
He said he would again try to certify his lawsuit as a
class action. If the court agrees, he will then file action
to ban TTP permanently from doing business in Clay County,
and maybe in Missouri.
Missouri has no law banning the practice used by the telemarketer,
but the New Jersey company has been the target of enforcement
actions by the attorneys general of Delaware and Virginia
for violation of consumer protection laws.
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