Guest claims Va. Beach hotel violated a privacy law

Posted to: Business Consumer - Retail Virginia Beach
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By Tom Shean
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 24, 2011

NORFOLK

A Virginia Beach hotel broke a privacy-protection law by including restricted information on a credit-card receipt, a hotel guest alleges in a suit filed in federal court in Norfolk.

The plaintiff, James T. Buechler of Baltimore County, Md., contends that Marjac Suites on Atlantic Avenue and its owner, Burlage Hotel Associates, violated a federal statute in January by printing Buechler's card-expiration date on his receipt at checkout.

Buechler is seeking damages "on behalf of himself and the thousands of other consumers placed at risk by defendant's unlawful practice," according to the suit, filed Aug. 10.

Buechler is asking the court to certify his suit as a class action. Members of the proposed class would include individuals who received electronically printed receipts for transactions at Marjac Suites after June 30, 2008, and whose receipts bore the expiration date of their credit or debit card.

A willful violation of the statute, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, can trigger damages of $100 to $1,000 per transaction, along with attorneys' fees and costs.

In an effort to curb identity theft and card fraud, Congress in 2003 passed a measure that bars merchants from printing more than the last five digits of a customer's card number on a receipt and from printing the card-expiration date. Merchants who use electronically printed receipts for credit and debit transactions had until 2006 to comply. The deadline was later extended to June 2008.

Buechler's suit noted that the giant card networks Visa and MasterCard and the Federal Trade Commission notified businesses of the need to change card-processing equipment before the restrictions took effect.

Robert C. Goodman Jr., a lawyer with Kaufman & Canoles and registered agent for Burlage Hotel Associates, declined to comment on the suit. "We've not been served, and I've not seen the papers," he said.

Scores of retailers and restaurants throughout the country have been hit with similar suits seeking damages for disclosure of card-expiration dates on customers' receipts. In June, the operator of Chili's Bar & Grill restaurants in Texas was sued by a patron who made allegations similar to Buechler's.

Two suits brought against other restaurant chains - one in New Jersey against KFC Corp. and one in Chicago against Taco Bell - were filed in 2007 and later dismissed.

Tom Shean, (757) 446-2379, tom.shean@pilotonline.com

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would the reporter please include the penalty the law gives

Submitted by portworker on Fri, 08/26/2011 at 10:19 pm.

Since Congress passed the bill that is now law, did they include a penalty for violating the privacy?

Why should the private citizen have to enforce the law when all he should have to do is report the "crime"?

If Congress made it a civil case then shame on them and they should go back and fix it so the private citizen doesn't have to expose themselves and their attorney to frivilous law suit penalties.

Frivolous.

Submitted by SamD on Thu, 08/25/2011 at 8:15 pm.

The only winner will be the attorney.

Are you kidding

Submitted by just sayin on Thu, 08/25/2011 at 11:53 am.

One word comes to mind "Ridiculous". This suit is going to cost the small hotel Thousands of dollars or they will settle out of court. Why is this person so bent at getting at most $500..because his attorney will get the other $500 out of a $1000. Great $$ for law firms!!! This adds no value or purpose. If the hotel is at fault for not doing something in timely manner and knew maybe fine them but Millions of dollars... "Ridiculous"

If you want money, earn it the old fashion ways:
WORK Hard and find a nitch,
Inheritance or
Lottery

Another ridiculous lawsuit

Submitted by markk33831 on Wed, 08/24/2011 at 4:13 pm.

A judge needs to toss this one and the plaintiff, out on their ears. Another ridiculous suit to clog up our court system.

The credit card company has

Submitted by Ethan on Wed, 08/24/2011 at 11:55 am.

The credit card company has the risk, not the consumer.

not really

Submitted by chrisald on Fri, 08/26/2011 at 7:53 am.

In the end if there is a charge back it usually hits the merchant, costing them money. Because of our reluctance to pay for security technology for card processing we have a system that is very open to fraud. Banks will not take the risk on this fraud so they pass charges onto the merchants. In Europe, for example, they have developed and card/chip/PIN system that is much more secure therefore costing merchants and consumers less.