Visa and MasterCard know there is nothing that American consumers love more than fees and surcharges. That’s why the credit card companies are reportedly looking to do away with longstanding rules that prohibit merchants from adding on extra costs to customers who pay with credit. [More]
lawsuits
Lawsuit: I Listened To Chase About My Mortgage And Ended Up With No House And A Dead Husband
By 7.6.12
A Texas widow and her family have filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase and others, alleging that their efforts to refinance their mortgage with the bank only resulted in foreclosure, heartache and her husband’s fatal heart attack. [More]
1994 Tax Billing Error Forces Woman Into 5-Year Legal Battle To Save Her House
By 7.2.12
Back in 1994, a Georgia woman received two county tax bills in the mail — one addressed to her, and a second addressed to a man with the same, incredibly common last name, but whom she’d never heard of and whose address was invalid. She paid off the former immediately and ignored the latter. Little did she know that, 13 years later, this goof by the county would land her in court trying to save her house from being taken away from her. [More]
DirectBuy Refunds Membership After Customer Obtains Levy, Plans To Sell Store Contents
By 6.29.12 — Updated: 11.3.16
A customer has gone to battle against pushy members-only shopping club DirectBuy, and won. How did they do it? The Pennsylvania couple enlisted the help of the legal system, a local consumer reporter, and the police. When the company wouldn’t pay the judgment filed against it in court, they showed up with cops and a levy against the company, so they could start hauling off office furniture and anything else in the store if they so desired. Instead, they found that the local DirectBuy outpost had moved, and a new store opened with different management. A coincidence, surely. [More]
Waitress Says She Was Fired For Balking At Skimpy New Outfits
By 6.26.12
After several years of working at an L.A.-area bar, a woman says she was fired when she refused to wear the skimpy outfits that the new manager said were now required for female employees. [More]
Judge Allows Closed-Captioning Lawsuit Against Netflix To Proceed
By 6.22.12
Netflix recently asked a court to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the National Association for the Deaf that alleges the company violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by not including closed-captioning on many of its streaming videos. But earlier this week, the judge in the case ruled against Netflix, allowing the suit to move forward. [More]
Judge Sides With Comcast Against “Shakedown” Porn Lawyers
By 6.20.12
Last week, we told you about Comcast’s refusal to comply with subpoenas for lawyers for porn companies who wanted the cable company to identify the customers behind IP addresses believed to have illegally downloaded copyrighted material. Now the judge in the case has sided with the Kabletown crew, quashing those subpoenas. [More]
Judge Gives Louis Vuitton Lesson In Film Comedy 101 In Dismissing ‘Hangover 2’ Lawsuit
By 6.19.12
The folks at monogram-loving handbag company Louis Vuitton are not famous for their sense of humor, especially when it comes to their oft-copied designs. And they certainly didn’t see what was so funny about a scene in Hangover 2 featuring a character carrying knock-off Louis Vuitton bags through the airport. Luckily, there’s a judge out there who understands comedy — and is willing to explain it, footnotes and all. [More]
More Than 50,000 People Sue BP Over Air Pollution At Texas City Refinery
By 6.14.12
The fatal disaster at BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico was the driving force behind its 2011 Worst Company In America win. But many voters also pointed to incidents at other BP facilities, like the Texas City refinery that released about 500,000 pounds of pollutants into the air over the course of 40 days. Now a group of more than 50,000 people are suing BP over that little oopsy. [More]
Comcast Not Cooperating With Lawyers Looking To “Shake Down” BitTorrent Users
By 6.13.12
For several years, a small number of law firms have made an awful lot of money by identifying people it believes have used BitTorrent to download copyrighted porn, then nudging those people into paying up rather than having their names be made public. Comcast has decided it doesn’t want to be a part of such behavior and is refusing to comply with subpoenas in these cases. [More]
Arby’s Customer Sues Restaurant Because Using The Urinal Shouldn’t Result In Burnt Genitals
By 6.7.12
An Arby’s customer in Colorado has sued the restaurant chain over a 2010 incident in which he claims his genitals were burnt when the urinal he was using “caused a jet of hot steam to shoot forth.” [More]
Judge Allows Payment Monopoly Lawsuit Against eBay/PayPal To Proceed
By 6.1.12
When you go to the eBay Seller Information Center section about how to accept payments, there is no mention of any other payment service than PayPal, which as you likely know, is owned by eBay. This oh-so-close relationship is at the core of a lawsuit against the online auction site. [More]
Pittsburgh Penguins Fan Sues Team For Texting Him Too Frequently
By 5.30.12
A fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL team is suing the owners for the hockey franchise — not for the team’s embarrassing loss at the hands of the infinitely superior Philadelphia Flyers, but because he got more than he bargained for when he signed up for text alerts from the team. [More]
Michigan Man Wins $65,000 In Lawsuit Over Robocalls
By 5.24.12
As we’ve pointed out before, it’s illegal for companies to make auto-dialed, pre-recorded calls to your wireless device unless you have given them your consent. But that hasn’t stopped some offenders from continuing, even after they have been told to stop. [More]
Bought A Groupon, An iPhone 4, Or Coconut Water? These Class Actions Are For You
By 5.24.12
Have you bought coconut water, pinot noir, a Samsung TV, or an iPhone 4? If you purchased any of these products, plus a whole bunch more, you may be eligible to file a claim in one of these recently settled class action lawsuits. Proof of purchase isn’t always required, but lying is bad consumer karma. [More]
Broadcasters Would Rather Not Have To Post Political Ad Rates Online
By 5.22.12
Last month, the FCC approved a new rule that requires broadcasters who air political ads to post on their websites the rates they charge — and other related information — for these commercials. This isn’t sitting well with the broadcasters, who filed suit to stop the rule change. [More]
Report: Judges Collect More Than $1 Million In Traffic Fines By Calling Them 'Court Costs'
By 5.18.12
Imagine you’re caught speeding — or driving recklessly, or driving without a license — and you appear in traffic court all set to pay the fine. But then the judge tells you that he’s not only knocking your offense down to a warning, but also discounting your penalty and collecting the lesser amount as “court costs.” You’d probably be very happy. Only problem is, it’s probably illegal and it keeps bad drivers on the road. [More]
Should Domino's Be Held Accountable For Franchisee's Robocalls?
By 5.17.12
Where do you place the invisible line of responsibility that separates a national fast food company from the actions of its franchisees? That was the question facing a judge in Washington state, who found that Domino’s Pizza should not be held liable for the questionable telephone marketing employed by one of its franchisees. [More]
