We’ve heard about quite a few recent class-action settlements that you just might be eligible for, as well as cute little baby suits still looking for claimants. Products included: energy drinks, name-brand prescription drugs, and zombie microwaves.
class action
AmTrust Offers Homeowner $50 To Voluntarily Close HELOC
By 4.10.09
Here’s a new tactic we haven’t seen before: mortgage originator AmTrust called blogger BeThisWay and offered her $50 to voluntarily close her home equity line of credit (HELOC), possibly in response to the recent class action lawsuit against them for illegally closing HELOCs. She writes, “Well, I’d like to keep my HELOC. But I have to figure out AmTrust’s next move. What will they do if not enough people voluntarily surrender their HELOCs? Are cancellations next? Am I better off taking the $50 now, or waiting, hoping they don’t cancel it?”
Did Your Paxil Pills Break In The Bottle? Get Up To $150 Cash Back
By 4.4.09
If you took Paxil between April 1, 2002 and March 4, 2005, and your pills broke in the bottle, you can take part in a new class action settlement to receive some compensation. Tier One covers 1-5 pills and will get you $50. Tier Two covers up to 15 pills and will get you between $50 and $150 depending on the details of your claim.
Best Buy Accused Of Paying Bonuses To Managers Who Don't Price Match
By 3.23.09
- Best Buy provided financial bonuses based, in part, on denying proper price match requests.
- Best Buy denied more than 100 proper price match requests per store per week.
AT&T Mobility And RadioShack Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over $5,000 Overage Bill
By 3.2.09
A woman in Oklahoma bought a 3G netbook from RadioShack for $100, subsidized by a two-year data plan from AT&T Mobility. That plan comes with a 5GB monthly data cap, which she exceeded, and as a result her first monthly bill was over $5,000. Now the two companies are facing a class action lawsuit that alleges they are not clearly disclosing to purchasers that overage fees could be “astronomical.”
Verizon Wireless Accused Of Wrongly Billing NY Customers State Tax
By 2.25.09
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Verizon Wireless accusing it of passing directly to customers a “metropolitan commuter transportation district” tax that the company was actually supposed to pay. Albert Levy, who filed the lawsuit, points out that Sprint has never charged the tax to customers. Verizon Wireless calls the accusation “silly,” and says they’re billing it correctly. Perhaps not surprisingly, the actual wording of the tax law leaves the matter up in the air.
By 2.24.09
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An employee of Starbucks has filed a class action lawsuit against the company for failing to properly secure employee data. The employee was one of one of 97,000 notified late last year after a Starbucks laptop containing employee names, addresses and Social Security numbers was stolen. [NetworkWorld via Starbucks Gossip]
Microsoft "Vista Capable" Lawsuit Won't Be Class Action
By 2.23.09
Last week, a U.S. federal court judge denied class action status to the Microsoft “Vista Capable” lawsuit, on the grounds that “the plaintiffs could not demonstrate that their claims were common to the entire class of consumers who bought computers marked with the ‘Windows Vista Capable’ but without the ‘Premium Ready’ label.”
3 iPhone Class Action Lawsuits Filed In The Past Week
By 2.4.09
The number of people gunning for some Apple/AT&T cash keeps increasing, with three new class action lawsuits filed over the past 8 days alone. In all three suits, the primary complaint is the same: that AT&T Mobility’s 3G network isn’t robust enough to deliver the type of experience promised by iPhone marketing.
By 1.22.09
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Vonage has settled a class action lawsuit over its flaky fax service, but participants can only expect to see between $4-19 repayment. You have until March 2, 2009 to file a claim or an objection. [Bustos Fax Settlement] (Thanks to Klay!)
Coke Sued Over VitaminWater Claims
By 1.15.09
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has announced a class-action lawsuit against Coca-Cola over its VitaminWater line, on the grounds that it makes deceptive claims about the nutritional benefits of its drinks.
Class Action Lawsuit: Victoria's Secret Bras Causing Skin Rashes?
By 11.12.08
Discover Magazine has an interesting blog post about some consumers who were complaining that Victoria’s Secret bras were giving them painful rashes. When their lawyers bought similar bras and had them tested — they were found to contain formaldehyde.
Lawsuits Claim Applebee's Weight Watchers Food Has Too Much Fat
By 10.10.08
Awhile back we posted about some testing done by a group of local news affiliates that showed that the actual amount of fat (and calories) in certain “healthy” menu items from a variety of restaurants was different than what was listed on the menu.
Front Loading Washers Have A Love Affair With Mold
By 8.28.08
Consumer Reports says that despite the fact that front-loading washers are more efficient than traditional top-loading washers, they do have one major drawback. Mold. And the problem is severe enough that there have been several class action lawsuits filed against LG, Whirlpool, and Sears, whose Kenmore front-loaders are made by Whirlpool.
FDA Declares Bisphenol A Safe
By 8.15.08
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is the chemical used in various plastic bottles and can linings that Canada recently banned, consumers in Arkansas, California, and Ohio have filed lawsuits over, and Playtex and Nalgene have stopped using. The fear is that it’s toxic—studies on animals in Canada have shown that it’s damaging, and some tests in the U.S. suggest it’s harmful to humans as well. Critics of the anti-BPA movement point out that the human studies rely on super high dosages that never occur in real life, and that making safety decisions based on the general public’s fears isn’t exactly scientific.
Settlement In BA-VA Price-Fixing Class Action
By 8.6.08
You’re entitled to a small refund if you bought tickets for a long haul flight on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic between August 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006. The amount is $7-$34 per flight taken. This is the settlement in a class action lawsuit contending the two airlines colluded to fix the price of fuel surcharges. More info at airpassengerrefund.com. [via RickSeaney]
WaMu Tells You To Stop Paying Your Mortgage And Apply For Help, Then Forecloses On You
By 8.5.08
WaMu, despite all their big talk about helping homeowners avoid foreclosure, is apparently too overwhelmed with a tsunami of defaulted loans to call their customers back, let alone help them stay in their homes. Meet Lori and Mark Pestana. They have a $275,000 fixed rate mortgage with WaMu as their servicer. In August 2007, the Pestanas could not make a payment on their loan. They considered dipping into their retirement savings, but WaMu’s website offered an alternative:
By 7.15.08
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If you worked at Fry’s Electronics between March ’02 and July ’07, you can participate in a newly announced class action settlement. You should be contacted directly, but you can also download the settlement and claim form from here. [FrysForum] (Thank to Luis!)
