I just received an email to apply to be part of a class-action settlement against Oracle ( Oracle reaches $115 mln consumer privacy settlement | Reuters)
I’ve received a few similar claims years ago, but never made a claim. I always figured it might be worth about $5, and to get the claim I’d have to submit my personal information.
Has anyone done one of these claims?
I have never made a claim.Clark has mentioned on several podcasts that the payouts to individuals tends to be very minimal amounts. He did mention hearing from someone who had received several hundred dollars.
That company where the CEO bought a Hawaii island? That Oracle?
Some class actions have paid more than hundreds to plaintiffs. Granted, the more people who qualify for the suit and the amount the lawyers get will limit payments.
In the class action suit my group brought, the award was over $41 million dollars. There were probably 1,000 plaintiffs. Payouts were determined based upon crop sizes with some people getting many tens of thousands of dollars each. I was a smaller recipient and received over $10,000. So YES, in some clas action suits, people can get a lot of money. By the way, it helped that our suit claiming action under the Lanham (trademark) Act included Walmart, Costco, Amazon, World Market/Cost Plus, Bed Bath and Beyond, ABC stores, Safeway and others. While not admitting wrongdoing, many companys settled based upon their not verifying the claims of their suppliers and an agreement to better label and accurately market the products.
In this case you mentioned, I assume that the payouts will be pretty small. In some suits there is a criteria which is verified to determine if someone is a member of the suit and how badly they were effected. In some suits you only have to say you are and perhaps show a minor receipt.
I have a friend who got a check for…1 cent! He framed it and has it on his wall in his man cave!
apparently so
Lavarock: Do they ask you to provide lots of personal information? I’m leery of giving out info anymore!
In my case, it was simple as we all live in the same community and knew who was eligible. The people bringing the suit were neighbors.
In other cases, depending upon the suit, you may only need to state your name, email and mailing address and proof that you are a member of the goup and to what extent (perhaps number of accounts, length of time you used the product, etc).
I am not aware that you will have to supply bank accounts or other infor for most claims. In my case we just received checks and as with other suits, you will be required t ocash those checks within a specific time frame.
I am not an expert on class action suits and my answer is based upon my experiences and reading about other suits.
The suit itself and information from the legal team bringing the suit will be your best specific information.
Several years ago there was a class action lawsuit with Toyota for something related to the Prius. I didn’t even know there was a lawsuit so I was part of “the class” by default. One day there was a letter from Toyota. While I usually trash “junk mail”, something about this letter from Toyota looked different, so I opened it. Good thing I did as it was a check for $1400 from the lawsuit. But a check that big is a rarity.
I looked at Google and a law firm website said that claimants could get around $50-$150 depending on the number of claims filed. But further on they said “Individual payouts hinge on total claimants but could be extremely low if there is an extremely large number of claimants.”
And the class extends to 220 million people.
Of course there might be an exception to the rule but typically you are looking at very low return! I believe the last one I was in, somehow I was added because I did not decline I tossed the paperwork. A few years later I notice and a notice of a settlement, the amount was $49. But because the class action was for some wage dispute they took taxes out (Federal, Medicare & Social Security) and I had to report it on my taxes.
Would love to see a few class action lawsuits about this:
What Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott Don’t Want You To Know (youtube.com)
Unless you simply don’t want your information out there you have nothing to lose but a small amount of time. Plus they already have your info or they wouldn’t be contacting you. I’ve signed up for several of these over the years and generally speaking you only get a few dollars. In one case it was a couple of hundred.
Class action cases enrich the sharks from the legal profession not the victims. It’s the way the system works.
I have recieved two or three.
Most about $ 5.00.
Did you get anything from the Prius class action suit? I can’t remember the year or the reason, but I got a check for over $1000. I had a 2005 and 2010 Prius.
No.
Wish I had.