That's generally true, but the lawyers get their cut whether you file or
not. In many class actions suits the amounts can be large enough to be worth
filling out a form. I filed the form in the Toshiba case and got a $475
refund on a $1500 laptop, plus a $200 certificate for Toshiba products
(which a large computer store allowed me to use for ANY merchandise, since
they sell enough Toshiba products to cover the certificate). In the
Christie's/Sotheby's case my recovery was in the five figures. But I have to
hold the refund papers until 2007 (or sell them at an absurdly deep discount
before that date to a reseller).
As for PayPal, the class action may be the least concern you should have
about their sharp practices. Those using PayPal with "commercial" accounts
might take the time to read the fine print in their revised user agreements
(I don't know about their other types of accounts). Last year PayPal revised
their commercial account agreements to require both credit card account info
and bank account info and to allow PayPal to withdraw funds from either or
both accounts without the account holder's prior consent, and they even
included a waiver in the agreement in which the account holder agrees that
no refund of an unauthorized withdrawal shall be made in the case of
PayPal's bankruptcy, change of ownership, etc., and any refund will be made
only at PayPal's sole discretion in any case. I was not willing to put my
business account or card limits at risk, and closed my PayPal account, since
it was not worth the trouble to open special credit card or bank accounts
(with minimal balances) just to handle a few piss-ant PayPal transactions.
My attorney reviewed their user agreement for me and then dropped his own
PayPal account as well (and did not bill me for his services).
Kevin
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack Kessler" <kessler@well.com>
To: "Multiple recipients of list" <exlibris@library.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 4:36 PM
Subject: Re: re. paypal class action
>
> "Class actions" in my experience pay 50% of whatever gets
> recovered to the lawyers, and to the "legal costs" -- all those
> fancy mailings, just think -- and then they divide whatever award
> is left over among about a gazillion class claimants, leaving a
> pittance at most for any given individual...
>
> Unless you've been doing a fairly enormous volume of business
> with the party being sued, pretty directly, and for the precise
> time in question in the lawsuit, and for the precise type of
> transaction specified in the lawsuit... The $12 which eventually
> they might pay you personally won't cover the time you spend
> reading & puzzling over the legalese in the documents they send.
>
> So I "file 13" class action stuff when I get it. Lawyers -- bless
> 'em... -- make money from class actions, class plaintiffs don't.
>
>
> Jack Kessler, kessler@well.com
>
>
> On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 kewalton@buffalo.edu wrote:
>
> > I, too, just received the official notice.
> > I scanned through it and it seems that individuals who opened accounts
> > during the timeframe are automatically members of the class. It says in
> > part #9 that you have to send them a signed request for exclusion if you
do
> > NOT want to be part of the settlement. And, of course, you have to send
> > them your personal information in one of three forms if you want to file
a
> > claim.
> > I wonder what happens to those of us who neither opt-out nor file a
claim.
> > A good weekend to all...
> > Karen Morse
> > __________________________________________________________
> > Karen Walton Morse
> > Processing Archivist
> > University Archives
> > SUNY at Buffalo
> >
> >
> >