Are Class Action Lawsuits Worth Your Time and Money?
Recently I was listening to the news and heard about the Airborne Class Action Lawsuit Settlement and started thinking — as a purchaser of Airborne, if I hadn’t heard it on the news or read it on the web, how would I ever know I’m entitled to money? And, for suits like these where I wasn’t directly affected (who can prove anything with the common cold definitively anyway?) but used their product, should I apply for a refund? And, do I even remember how many I bought in that time frame?
First of all, what is a class action lawsuit anyway? According to Wikipedia:
In law, a class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominately a US phenomenon, at least the US variant of it. However, in several European countries with civil law (as opposed to the Anglo-Saxon common law principle, which is used by US courts), changes have in recent years been made that allow consumer organisations to bring claims on behalf of large groups of consumers.
You hear about them all the time, and even more of them are happening (and may affect you) that you never hear anything about. Sure, if there is some big class action settlement related to a large purchase you made (ex: an automobile) or a membership you are a part of (ex: online videos, credit cards) you may get contacted about it because you are a customer on record and the company communicates with you regularly. For items like this Airborne Settlement or many consumer products (think – toys, household items, etc.) you are not “on record” anywhere because you bought something in a retail store and went on your merry way.
In the case of the Airborne Settlement, you can go to a website which has settlement information and information on how to file a claim. The website has all the details of who qualifies and the claim deadline. As a consumer of Airborne I went through the online claim process. What makes me laugh most about this process is it asks details about purchase dates, locations, items, etc. How the heck do I remember exactly when I bought Airborne since 2001? I took a rough guess (I usually buy it before traveling by air) and made a rough estimate of how many times I purchased it. Unless you have documented receipts, you are limited to refunds for 6 purchases.
I have received settlement automatically in some instances in the past. A while back I received automatic notice from Netflix regarding settlement of a class action lawsuit. If I hadn’t gotten an email I would have never had a clue this happened (though truthfully, I couldn’t complain about Netflix and have been an uber happy customer since 2000).
So, as a consumer how can you find out about possible class action lawsuits to which you are entitled? I started doing some Google Searches to see what I could find. I found a site called: Class Action World which lists a myriad of current class action suits. Otherwise, I found it woefully difficult to find any definitive list of current suits. If I search by company name and class action lawsuit I find results, but then again you’d need to know which company you wanted to check.
This little search made me wonder – how is a savvy consumer to know if she is eligible for refunds? And, is it worth it to go through the trouble of filing a claim? For instances where it is unreasonable to expect one to have proof of purchase like the Airborne example, I’m curious how much fraud happens? Meaning, people who decide to take advantage of a class action settlement to get a few dollars dishonestly.
In this case I did my best honest guess when filing a claim. Who knows how many other instances I may not even know about, yet I don’t think it is a good use of my time to troll the Internet looking for ways to capitalize on a few dollars in a class action settlement. If I learn about it and feel justified in filing a claim, I do, otherwise, I don’t give it another thought. While I all for just treatment of consumers and keeping companies on the up and up, a part of me wonders if class action suits are just cash cows for the legal community and just contributes to an overdone litigious climate in our society.
How about you? What do you do with respect to class action lawsuits? Know any good resources? Is it a worthwhile frugal step to file a claim or a waste of time? Would love to hear your stories in the comments.
Paula Gregorowicz, owner of The Paula G. Company, works with women who are ready to create their lives and businesses in a way that fits who they are rather than how they were told they "should". Get the free 12 part eCourse "How to Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin" http://www.coaching4lesbians.com and start taking charge of your own success.
If you were satisfied with the product at the time (like NetFlix), is it really fair to go back and put your hand out for a class action suit? In my opinion, no. I had the goods or services, I was happy with the value at the time- end of transaction. HOWEVER, should there be some reason that the service or product caused me harm or didn’t do what it was supposed to (like the Airborne *supposedly* boosting one’s immune system)- then yeah! Class action!
This is a very complicated issue, if you bought the product and were happy at the time then, thats fine – no need to look out for a class action lawsuit.
On the other hand if you weren’t happy with the product then you would have gone back and returned it.
Although if the product doesn’t do as it states but then you go and file for the refund then (after using half the product) how can you expect a refund?