Booking texts and marketing texts: the TCPA opt-out rules restaurants follow in 2027

A guest replies "Stop" to your Friday reminder text. On Monday you want to send the January offer to everyone who booked in December. Does that guest get it? Can you even confirm their next booking?

From 25 November 2026, under the FCC's revised rule, a "stop" sent in reply to a booking reminder may be treated as ending only that category of informational texts, while a "stop" in reply to a marketing text ends all marketing texts from you. Either way you must honor it within 10 business days, and you may send one confirmation within five minutes. The 31 January 2027 date still quoted online no longer applies. Last checked: 5 November 2026.

What changed in the TCPA text rules, and when?

Three dates circulate for the same rule because it moved three times. The rule is 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10), the opt-out ("revocation") rule the FCC adopted in 2024.

The FCC adopted the order (FCC 26-67) on 30 September 2026 and released it on 1 October. The Federal Register published it on 26 October 2026 with an effective date of 25 November 2026, and says the revised rule will "supersede the delayed effective date of the relevant portion of that rule that was previously extended to January 31, 2027". The FCC also refused a request to delay it by up to 12 months.

The same order opened a new consultation on cutting the 10 business days to seven, requiring two-way texting and requiring a one-step "stop everything" option. None of those is law yet.

Booking texts or marketing texts: what consent does each need?

The TCPA treats a text as a call. Two levels of consent matter for a restaurant, both in 47 CFR 64.1200:

• Informational texts (no advertising) sent with automated equipment need the guest's prior express consent (47 U.S.C. 227(b)). Under long-standing FCC rulings, a guest who gives you a mobile number to book a table has generally consented to texts about that booking. Since McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson (Supreme Court, 2025), courts are not bound by FCC interpretations, so treat this as the FCC's view, not a guarantee.
• Marketing texts (anything "advertising the commercial availability or quality" of what you sell) sent with automated equipment need prior express written consent (64.1200(f)(9)): a signed agreement, which can be an electronic checkbox, that authorizes your restaurant to send marketing texts by automated means to that number, and says consent is not a condition of buying anything.

Reminders are worth protecting: they are one of the cheapest no-show tools a restaurant has. If a deposit or booking text mentions a fee, how that fee must be shown is covered in our guide to junk-fee laws.

Whether a given texting platform is an "autodialer" under the FCC's definition (equipment that uses a random or sequential number generator, as narrowed by the Supreme Court in Facebook v. Duguid, 2021) is a legal question courts still argue. Plan as if the consent rules apply: Florida's own law has its own definition of an automated system, and the Do Not Call rules below apply whatever equipment you use.

Marketing texts also fall under the quiet-hours and Do Not Call rules in 64.1200(c), which apply to texts (64.1200(e)) whatever equipment you use: no telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the guest's location, and none to numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry unless the guest gave permission or you have an established business relationship (a purchase in the last 18 months, ended by a "stop"). Under 64.1200(d), anyone sending marketing texts also needs a written do-not-call policy, trained staff and an internal list of people who asked not to be contacted.

How must a restaurant handle "stop" and other opt-outs?

The revised 64.1200(a)(10), in force from 25 November 2026, sets four duties.

1. Recognize the seven words. A reply of "stop", "quit", "end", "revoke", "opt out", "cancel" or "unsubscribe" is a valid opt-out unless you have named a website or phone number as your only method. If you name reply-by-text, all seven words must work.
2. Choose your method, or honor any reasonable one. You may name an exclusive way to opt out (reply with a standard word, a key press, or a website or phone number), as long as you disclose it in each text. Including one of the standard words, such as "Reply STOP to opt out", is enough. If you do not name an exclusive method, a guest who writes "please don't text me anymore" has opted out.
3. Apply it to the right category. An opt-out sent in reply to an informational text may be treated as ending "the specific category" of informational texts it answered. The FCC does not define the categories. Our reading: a guest who stops booking reminders can still get a "your table is ready" text when they join the waitlist, but treating reminders and confirmations for the same booking as separate categories is riskier. An opt-out from a marketing text ends all your marketing texts.
4. Act within 10 business days, and confirm once. You must stop within a reasonable time, no more than 10 business days. A single confirmation text with no marketing in it is allowed; sent within five minutes, it is presumed to be within the guest's consent.

The order says each text must clearly and conspicuously disclose the designated method. On a two-way-capable number, "Reply STOP to opt out" in every marketing text and every reminder is the simplest way to comply.

What do state laws add?

Several states have their own texting laws on top of the TCPA. Florida's carries its own damages and its own pre-suit "STOP" step. Under s. 501.059, last amended in 2023:

• a "telephonic sales call" includes a text message;
• unsolicited marketing texts sent with an automated system for selecting and dialing numbers need prior express written consent; the statute does not count texts sent at the guest's express request or to someone with a "prior or existing business relationship" as unsolicited, and how far a past booking reaches is for the courts;
• before suing over texts, a guest must reply "STOP" and you have 15 days to stop;
• damages are $500 per violation (or actual damages, if higher), up to three times that if willful or knowing.

Florida's separate Telemarketing Act, s. 501.616(6), bars a "commercial telephone seller" from solicitation calls, including automated ones, before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. and more than three in 24 hours on the same subject. Whether a restaurant's texts count is not settled; the cautious course with Florida guests is marketing between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. their time.

Federal damages for a TCPA claim are $500 per text (or the actual loss, if higher), up to $1,500 if a court finds the violation willful or knowing (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3)). On a list of 2,000 guests, one unconsented campaign is a $1 million claim on paper.

Worked example: one guest, three texts

A guest books for Saturday 9 January on your website and gives a mobile number. The marketing box is unticked.

If the guest had ticked the marketing box, the 11 January text would be allowed, with "Reply STOP to opt out" in it, and a "stop" to that text would end all marketing texts from you. The 2 February row is a judgment call, not a ruling: the FCC has not said when a fresh booking restores consent, so if your records are unclear, confirm that booking by email.

Get advice before you text any list you did not collect yourself, before you rely on a new booking to restart texts after an opt-out, and as soon as a guest or a lawyer sends a demand letter about your texts.

Consent wording and an opt-out checklist you can copy

On the booking or waitlist form, under the phone field:

We'll text you about this booking (confirmation and reminders).
Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out.

A separate, unticked checkbox for marketing:

[ ] Yes, text me offers and news from [Restaurant name] at the number
    above. Texts are sent automatically, up to [4] a month. Consent is
    not a condition of booking or buying. Reply STOP to opt out.

The opt-out checklist for the person who runs your texts:

TEXT OPT-OUT CHECKLIST

[ ] Every marketing text and every reminder says "Reply STOP to opt out"
[ ] Stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel and unsubscribe all work
[ ] Written requests in other words ("no more texts") are handled
    by hand, unless you have named an exclusive method
[ ] Opt-outs stop within 10 business days; aim for the same day
[ ] One confirmation text, within 5 minutes, no offer in it
[ ] Marketing consent is stored with date, time, form and wording shown
[ ] Marketing goes out 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. guest time (Florida's window)
[ ] Imported lists without a consent record get email, not texts
[ ] Do Not Call: check before texting anyone without written consent
[ ] A written do-not-call policy and internal list (64.1200(d))

The marketing texts themselves are a separate decision. Our January marketing plan covers what to send, and the loyalty program guide covers building a list guests want to be on.

Changelog

• 25 November 2026: the revised 64.1200(a)(10) takes effect.
• 5 November 2026: checked against the Federal Register: FCC 26-67 was published on 26 October 2026 (91 FR 67214), effective 25 November 2026; the 31 January 2027 date is superseded.
• 26 October 2026: FCC 26-67 published in the Federal Register.
• 1 October 2026: FCC releases FCC 26-67, adopted 30 September.
• 6 January 2026: FCC extends the "revoke all" delay to 31 January 2027 (DA 26-12).
• 7 April 2025: FCC delays "revoke all" to 11 April 2026.
• 11 April 2025: the 2024 opt-out rules take effect, except "revoke all".

Can TablePort handle this for you?

TablePort sends the informational texts a restaurant needs and keeps marketing on a consent-checked channel.

1. Turn on booking confirmations and reminders by text, so guests have the details and fewer tables sit empty. SMS is billed by destination.
2. Run the waitlist so a walk-in gets a text when their table is ready.
3. If a guest replies STOP to a booking or order text, TablePort stops texting that number from your restaurant.
4. Send offers through Marketing Suite, which is email: every send passes a consent check, every email carries an unsubscribe link, and a guest who opts out stays opted out unless they rejoin.

One honest limit: Marketing Suite does not send marketing texts, so a text offer needs another tool and its own written consent. See the communications page.