Last year was a solid year for Class Action Settlements. We saw a variety of companies and violations across the board, which led to a plethora of payouts. 2019 is shaping up to be similar so to get a good idea of what the rest of this year will look like, it can be helpful to look at some of the settlements from last year.
Top Class Actions wrote a great article about the class action settlements from 2018. It’s a great piece and worth checking out but we’ve out together some of the highlights for you right here.
Two of the most popular types of class action settlements last year were TCPA and Fake Sale. Let’s look at each of these to understand them a little better.
TCPA stands for Telephone Consumer Protection Act. These involve those robot calls and phone scams that we’re all tired of dealing with, as well as companies sending text messages to people who did not agree to receive them. The TCPA calls for a pretty substantial fine of $500-$1500 per consumer violation, so most companies with TCPA violations end up settling to avoid these.
Uber was one of the companies that was in violation of this act due to customer that claimed they were receiving spam texts from the company. Caribou Coffee was another company that did a settlement due to the TCPA. They were reported to not only be sending unwanted messages, but also not stopping the sending of said messages when requested. AT&T/U-verse is another one. They were said to have been using and automatic dialing system in order to make calls about U-verse services.
Fake Sale settlement are ones then typically resolve a claim saying the company was being misleading or deceptive with sale signs or pricing. As a result, customers are led to believe that they are getting a better deal than they are. This is a practice that seems to be all too common, so it’s something to keep an eye out for and make sure you aren’t falling victim to it. Some of the bigger Fake Sale settlements from last year were TJ Maxx/Marshall’s/Home Goods, Nieman Marcus, Harbor Freight and Ann Taylor.
If you’d like to read the whole article from Top Class Actions, you can check it out here: https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/class-action-settlement-checks-mailed/868580-2018-big-year-class-action-settlement-payouts/