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settlements
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settlements
class actions
Massive TransUnion Settlement To Reveal Credit Scores
Did you have a credit card between Wednesday and 1987? Great! You're part of a massive class action settlement with TransUnion. The credit reporting agency has agreed to fork out services worth over $100 to every cardholder as a way of saying "sorry for grossly violating federal privacy laws by selling your private data to businesses!" More »
ghoulish
NYC 'Bodies' Exhibit Must Refund Tickets For Using Undocumented Corpses
If you've seen the "Bodies" exhibit at the South Street Seaport in New York City, you're entitled to a refund (click here for info) according to a new agreement between New York's Attorney General's office and Premier Exhibitions, Inc. When "Bodies" first opened here over two years ago, some opponents questioned whether the Chinese cadavers were legally obtained—or whether they were Chinese political prisoners who hadn't consented to being plastinated, flayed, and displayed by a private for-profit company. At the time, Premier Exhibitions' president said all the bodies were documented: "Although he said he was not allowed to keep copies of documents, officials at Dalian University in northern China showed him papers attesting to the origin of the remains," wrote the New York Times in 2005. Then ABC's news show "20/20" aired an investigative report this past February that showed otherwise. More »
settlements
Today Is The Last Day To File A Claim In The Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fee Class Action
If you were planning on filing a claim in the credit card foreign transaction fee class action, today is the last day to do it. More »
settlements
Pet Food Companies Agree To $24 Million Settlement Over Killer Pet Food
After a two-week delay to make sure the language of the settlement met U.S. and Canadian law, about 30 pet food makers have agreed to pay out $24 million to customers whose pets were killed or injured in the tainted food fiasco a year ago. Victims will be reimbursed for expenses, including vet and burial/cremation bills. Additionally, "pet owners can request reimbursement for the cost or fair-market value—whichever is higher—of a deceased pet or one purchased in replacement. Owners who don't have documentation of expenses can get as much as $900 each. All claims are subject to review." More »
A California court has upheld the scrawny Netflix "throttling" settlement from 2006. That was when Netflix settled a class-action lawsuit that alleged they intentionally slowed down the rental rates of high-renting customers. The settlement only really benefited lawyers and Netflix, but it stands. [Reuters]
heroes
Leukemia Survivor Who Had Identity Stolen By Lab Tech Tells His Story
We wrote about Eric Drew a few weeks ago—his personal information was stolen by a shady lab technician while he was undergoing treatment in 2004. Even after the lab tech was convicted, Drew still had to fight with the credit reporting companies to prove he existed and to clear up his credit record, so he filed lawsuits against TransUnion, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Equifax and Experian. He settled with TransUnion earlier this year, and as part of the settlement they will now accept doctors' notes for the hospitalized and the elderly, as well as offer free credit freezes to victims of ID theft.So why are we rehashing this? Discover magazine just published a detailed account of Drew's story, from his battle with leukemia and subsequent remission to the lengthy battle he waged against the credit industry to clear up his credit history.
More »
leaks
An anonymous tipster sent us AOL's 153 page internal collections guidebook for prying money out of delinquent account holders. The guide shows that AOL is following some of the debt industry's most egregious collection tactics by encouraging agents to deceive and lie to customers. After the jump we present AOL's scare tactics, tricks to negotiating a substantial discount, and the full collections guide.
More »
Exclusive: AOL's Collections Guide Encourages Agents To Lie And Deceive
An anonymous tipster sent us AOL's 153 page internal collections guidebook for prying money out of delinquent account holders. The guide shows that AOL is following some of the debt industry's most egregious collection tactics by encouraging agents to deceive and lie to customers. After the jump we present AOL's scare tactics, tricks to negotiating a substantial discount, and the full collections guide.
More »
settlements
Judge Wants To Know Why 31 Law Firms Are Seeking A Cut Of The "Credit Card Hidden Transaction Fee" Settlement
Last year's class-action settlement against Mastercard, Visa, and several banks over the fees they charged customers who traveled abroad came up to about $336 million, and of that, 31 law firms are claiming a total of about $86 million for fees. The federal judge responsible for determining how much they get paid wants to know why. More »
id theft
Leukemia Survivor Settles ID Theft Lawsuit With TransUnion; Five More Companies To Go
When Eric Drew was in the hospital being treated for leukemia five years ago, a lab technician stole his personal information and began opening up credit card accounts in his name. Drew had to fight with credit card and credit reporting companies to prove that he was a victim of identity theft, so he decided to go after them for their negligence and filed lawsuits against TransUnion, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Equifax and Experian. His recent settlement with TransUnion means the credit reporting agency will now "allow anyone who is hospitalized or elderly to file a claim of identity theft with a doctor's note, instead of having to provide a formal affidavit; permanently remove fraudulent information from a credit report; and offer a free credit freeze for identity theft victims."More »
settlements
CVS To Pay $36.7 Million For Improperly Switching Medications
CVS has settled a lawsuit that alleges the pharmacy giant improperly switched customers to a more expensive form of their medication in order to collect more money from Medicaid. More »
settlements
Reebok To Pay $1 Million Fine After Lead Poisoning Death
Two years ago athletic shoe giant Reebok announced a recall of 300,000 lead tainted charm bracelets that were given away as free gifts with the purchase of children's footwear. More »
settlements
11 Drug Companies Agree To Pay $125 Million For Fixing Prices
The Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) coalition filed suit against 11 drug companies in 2002 for artificially inflating the average wholesale price, or AWP, of certain drugs, including ones used to treat serious illnesses such as cancer and HIV. This week, PAL announced that the companies have agreed to pay $125 million to settle—82.5% of the amount will be used to compensate third-party payor's claims, and the remaining 17.5% will be used for consumer claims. Here's a list of the drugs involved, and after the jump is a quick guide to see whether you'll qualify for a claim, pending the judge's approval of the settlement. More »
settlements
AT&T Mobility Agrees To Refund Money To Florida Customers & Pay $2.5 Million To State's CyberFraud Task Force
Florida's Attorney General scored a victory for consumers last week, when AT&T Mobility agreed to refund fees that third-party vendors snuck onto thousands of accounts under the guise of "free" ringtones, wallpapers, and text content. They also agreed to hand over $2.5 million to help fund the state's recently-created CyberFraud Task Force, to spend $500,000 for "consumer education on safe Internet use," and to start policing third-party vendors better and make sure all billed items are clearly described. More »
Former electric heater company Vornado will pay the government a civil penalty of $500,000 and deny any wrongdoing for failing to report incidents of heater fires from 1993 to 2004, says the CPSC. "In August 2004, CPSC and Vornado announced the recall of about one million portable electric heaters," then the company dissolved. [CPSC]
settlements
GTA San Andreas "Hot Coffee" Settlement Offers $5 To Soothe Your Injured Mind
Horribly offended by the GTA: San Andreas "Hot Coffee" mod in which you could (help, help) indulge in crude polygon sex? Great. You're being offered a $5 cash settlement. More »
identity theft
Mann Free Movie Tickets Settlement Requires Your Credit Card Number
Between December 2006 and January 2007, Mann Theatres in Southern California printed the expiration dates of credit cards on receipts. If you were one of the lucky suckers who saw a movie there during this period and paid via credit card, Mann's lawyers want to make things right by giving you two free movie tickets and some free popcorn. However, to qualify for the free tickets, you have to provide your credit card number. This is like the end of "The Lion King" where the new cub is held aloft—the circle of life continues. More »
class actions
