File Some Claims, Get Up To $62.50

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Jun 21, 2005
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Electronic Arts will set up a $27 million fund to settle a class action lawsuit alleging its Madden NFL series was a price-gouging illegal monopoly. To no one's surprise, the biggest payment out of that will be to lawyers.


Terms are subject to a judge's approval, but the plaintiff's lawyers have agreed that when they file their motion for—i.e. what they get paid for litigating this four-year case—it'll be no more than 30 percent of the fund. That's $8.1 million. In fairness, that's for four years of work. But it's still a third of this award.

Costs, which would be the plaintiffs' actual expenses or whatever had to be paid out to third parties, plus whatever it costs to administer the payment of this settlement to millions of gamers, are not to exceed $2 million.

Geoffrey Pecover and Andrew Owens, the two plaintiffs who originally brought the suit, are entitled to $5,000 each as a "participation award."

That brings us to you.

Under the proposed terms, anyone buying a Madden NFL, NCAA Football or Arena Football product from Jan. 1, 2005 forward is eligible for a portion of the settlement. A tiny portion. It's $6.79 per title purchased for the PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox or GameCube. (It's amusing that for the purposes of this settlement, the PC is considered a last-generation platform.) It's $1.95 per title purchased for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Wii. And you're capped at eight titles in each group. So if you've bought every Madden and every NCAA Football on the Xbox 360—an extreme but still plausible case—you're still only getting $15.60.

How that will be paid out, whether as cash, a credit on a purchase, or some other freebie, I don't know. How they'll verify the number of titles a person claims is also not something I understand yet. They can't expect people to have kept their receipts. They can't just take someone's word for it if they check off eight in each group either. The EA Sports server database will probably be used in some way to identify and verify class action participants.

Mathematically, after all the fees and costs are deducted, the greatest number of claims this could pay out would be to 8.6 million individuals claiming $1.95 each. Madden NFL 12 alone sold about 2 million copies in its first month. Neither side expects everyone's going to knock on their door and demand their $2.
 
Apr 25, 2002
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www.dreamtdk.com
Reebok Update:
Posted: 08/07/2012
Last Updated: 10 hours and 22 minutes ago

By: Associated Press

(CNN) -- For customers who purchased Reebok EasyTone and RunTone shoes that were part of a Federal Trade Commission settlement, your refund check is in the mail. The refund is part of a settlement reached between the federal government and the popular shoe maker over allegations of deceptive advertising claims that their shoes were better than regular shoes at strengthening and toning leg and buttock muscles.

Reebok already coughed up $25 million to settle the fitness claims the FTC disputed. Approximately 315,000 checks are being sent to customers beginning Wednesday, but if you haven't already filed a claim, the FTC says you're out of luck. The deadline for customers to ask for a refund ended in April according to the FTC's Cheryl Hackley.

The amount of money each customer will get back is based on what they paid for the shoes. On average, the FTC estimates the checks will cover 87% of the cost customers doled out when they bought the sneakers.

Customers receiving a check need to cash it before November 6, 2012.

The FTC is warning customers to be careful when shopping for fitness products and workout gear, and Reebok isn't the only shoemaker to come under fire for over-hyping the fitness benefits of their products. In May, Skechers agreed to pay a hefty $40 million fine to settle charges they allegedly deceived consumers by making "unfounded claims that Shape-ups would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles," according to the FTC. Besides Shape-ups, Skechers also made deceptive claims about other products including Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-up shoes, the FTC alleged.

Customers seeking refunds for Skechers purchases may still do so according to the FTC.

™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/money/consu...ral-trade-commission-settlement#ixzz22vRCYV2E
 

Nuttkase

not nolettuce
Jun 5, 2002
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at the welfare mall
Reebok Update:
Posted: 08/07/2012
Last Updated: 10 hours and 22 minutes ago

By: Associated Press

(CNN) -- For customers who purchased Reebok EasyTone and RunTone shoes that were part of a Federal Trade Commission settlement, your refund check is in the mail. The refund is part of a settlement reached between the federal government and the popular shoe maker over allegations of deceptive advertising claims that their shoes were better than regular shoes at strengthening and toning leg and buttock muscles.

Reebok already coughed up $25 million to settle the fitness claims the FTC disputed. Approximately 315,000 checks are being sent to customers beginning Wednesday, but if you haven't already filed a claim, the FTC says you're out of luck. The deadline for customers to ask for a refund ended in April according to the FTC's Cheryl Hackley.

The amount of money each customer will get back is based on what they paid for the shoes. On average, the FTC estimates the checks will cover 87% of the cost customers doled out when they bought the sneakers.

Customers receiving a check need to cash it before November 6, 2012.

The FTC is warning customers to be careful when shopping for fitness products and workout gear, and Reebok isn't the only shoemaker to come under fire for over-hyping the fitness benefits of their products. In May, Skechers agreed to pay a hefty $40 million fine to settle charges they allegedly deceived consumers by making "unfounded claims that Shape-ups would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles," according to the FTC. Besides Shape-ups, Skechers also made deceptive claims about other products including Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-up shoes, the FTC alleged.

Customers seeking refunds for Skechers purchases may still do so according to the FTC.

™ & © 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/money/consu...ral-trade-commission-settlement#ixzz22vRCYV2E
Wasn't this one up to $200 without PoP or something like that?