58 Texts, Two Letters and a Flagger on the Job: Fender Sued Over Marketing Texts

One Portland man says that's exactly what happened to him.

On October 13, 2026, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation was sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division, according to OpenClassActions. The case is Kliewer v. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, No. 3:26-cv-02238. The complaint claims violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Oregon's Unlawful Trade Practices Act.

So what happened?

Here's what the complaint alleges:

• Fender sent the plaintiff at least 58 marketing texts from short code 71642. The complaint lists them by date from September 5, 2025 to February 25, 2026 and says that list isn't complete.
• He says he never consented and has never bought anything from Fender. It's his personal cell.
• On November 10, 2025, he sent Fender a letter asking to be put on its do not call list. The texts kept coming.
• On November 13, 2025, he registered his number on the National Do Not Call Registry.
• On December 29, 2025, he sent a second letter, telling Fender he worked long hours as a flagger and the texts were distracting him on the job. Fender allegedly sent more than two similar texts more than 10 days after that.
• None of the texts, he says, identified the legal name of the seller or the company sending them.

A flagger. On a road crew. Getting guitar promos while trying to keep traffic from hitting people. Read that again.

These are allegations. Fender hadn't responded as of the report, and no class has been certified.

Here's the thing ... it's three problems, not one

The complaint proposes three nationwide classes, plus an Oregon class:

• Do Not Call Registry class: people on the Registry for at least 31 days who got more than one Fender telemarketing message in 12 months.
• Caller ID class: people who got Fender telemarketing without caller ID showing the seller's name or a number they could call during business hours to make a do not call request.
• Procedures class: non-customers who asked Fender to stop and still got more texts.
• Oregon class: state residents texted on or after January 1, 2026 while on the Registry for at least 31 days.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules require telemarketers to keep an internal do not call list, record stop requests and identify themselves. The complaint says a stop request has to be honored within no more than 10 business days.

The TCPA allows up to $500 per violation, and up to $1,500 if it's willful or knowing. Oregon law allows actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for willful violations, with tighter limits in class actions.

The "texts aren't calls" wrinkle

Here's an interesting twist. On July 14, 2026, in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, the Seventh Circuit held that a text isn't a "telephone call" under the TCPA provision these do not call claims rely on. But Oregon is in the Ninth Circuit, where that ruling isn't binding. The complaint cites a July 2025 District of Oregon decision that let similar text claims go forward.

So don't bet your compliance program on that split. Am I right?

Why should you care?

Because a letter is an opt-out. A phone call is an opt-out. "Please stop" is an opt-out. It's not just a keyword reply.

And the caller ID piece is easy to miss. If your texts don't make clear who's sending them, that's a separate problem.

What to do this week

It's not rocket science.

• Honor every opt-out channel. Mail, email, phone, text. Route them all to one suppression list.
• Stop within 10 business days, max. Faster is better.
• Put your legal name in your messages. A short code alone isn't enough.
• Scrub against the Registry, even for texts.
• Know where every number came from. If they never bought from you, how did they get on your list?

Pro tip: search your inbox and your mailroom for the words "stop" and "remove." You might find opt-outs nobody ever acted on.

Rock and roll is supposed to be loud. Your marketing doesn't have to be, OK?