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Top Class Actions CEO Blog
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October 19th, 2008 |
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Sunday, 19 October 2008 17:59 |
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Podcast coming soon! Transcript below: Hello and thank you for tuning in to Top Class Actions weekly CEO Blog. I’m Scott Hardy, President and CEO of Top Class Actions. I’ll be using this forum to inform you of the latest class action lawsuit settlements posted to Top Class Actions, along with alerting you of those closing soon so you don’t miss out. The entire text of this broadcast is live on the site with Hyperlinks to each item mentioned. Just look for the link to the CEO Blog. It’s been extremely active around here at the Top Class Actions headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. My beautiful baby daughter will be seven weeks old soon and is becoming even more of a joy to behold every day. As she smiles and coos I recognize that the work we do here isn’t just for me or my family, it’s for all of you out there with families like mine. We comb through the legal settlement documents so you don’t have to. We post those that would have the most positive impact on the average consumer. You’re not going to get rich by watching my site, but you’ll be able to take out your spouse or significant other for a nice dinner because of the settlements you register for through Top Class Actions. So, on to the settlements. I hope those of you who qualified, registered for the Verizon ETF refund settlement. That closed last week and was a boon to those who were charged early Termination Fees for leaving Verizon’s network. One that I’m surprised more aren’t taking part in is the Trilegiant settlement. For those of you who don’t know, this settlement involves subscription fees charged by literally dozens of different entities. All were actually owned or the deals were managed by Trilegiant or formerly Cendant and could be QUITE difficult to cancel. I remember from my time at AOL how hard these were pushed by the Customer Care agents. They received some pretty nice bonuses just for transferring customers over to the Cendant agents. If you paid a subscription fee to AOL AutoVantage, Credit Alert, Direct Warehouse, Shoppers Advantage, Mortgage Guard or dozens of other companies you may be able to register for a refund. Make sure to check it out. Just go to TopClassActions.com, click on Settlements then Open Settlements. You’ll see it listed there. If eligible you can claim up to three YEARS worth of charges, buttttt, you’ll have to provide proof of the charges in the form of credit card, checking out or mortgage statements. Often times these charges were added on to an existing statement or account. You likely didn’t receive a separate bill for them. If you CAN’T provide any proof of the charges then you’re stuck with their default refund of $20. Hey, 20 bucks is 20 bucks. With oil prices tanking that might even get close filling up your gas tank in a few weeks! So, hit the site and check it out. If you think you were charged definitely go through your credit card or mortgage statements to get the proof and stake your claim! Three years worth of charges at an average of $20 a month really adds up quickly! What other settlements are hot right now? The DD’s Discounts/Ross Dress 4 Less settlement continues to get a lot of views. It’s up over two thousand views now. The deal with that one is it’s a mystery settlement. The amount which will end up going to the consumer is about $750,000, and that’s after the attorneys get their due. That $750,000 will be split among all of the claimants. It’s an all cash settlement. Who qualifies? Anyone who purchased something from a Ross or DD’s Discounts store between January 1st, 2005 and February 22nd, 2007 and used a credit card to pay. Check out the settlement page for details. The only catch is that it’s a paper claim process so you’ll have to print out the claim form and mail it in using the good old United States Postal Service. No electronic registration is being accepted. Since it’s a paper claim process they likely will have a much lower response rate, meaning that the “cut” of the settlement to be split among all claimants could be sizeable. At a minimum you should at least get your postage back, so if you’re eligible, make sure to make your claim! On to an update on the Cosmetics settlement. This is one that alleged pricing fixing at the retail level. They’ll be giving out to claimants up to $25 in cosmetics free of charge, just for showing up. They haven’t announced the date or stores that will be participating but they did let us know it’s going to happen in January. Stay tuned, we’ll let you know as soon as it’s announced. You’ll want to be there the first day or they’ll likely be all gone. OK, on to Requested Settlements. These are settlements which we’re currently investigating and the cases may not have been filed yet. We partner with Attorneys in our nationwide network to track down affected litigants. You could be a lead plaintiff in one of these cases. What’s in it for them? A lead plaintiff is typically reimbursed for all expenses related to the case, including any travel or lost time at work. The amounts we typically see are $1,000 on the low side, to $10,000 on the high side. If you feel like you may be able to participate, fill out the form and let us know! Top Class Actions or the Attorney representing the Plaintiffs will contact you as needed. What are we researching right now? A couple of cases. First, unsolicited text messages. Are you receiving text messages on your phone advertising porn, jokes or games? Then we want to hear from you. Also, are you a cable subscriber in Wyoming, Montana, Kansas or Illinois? Your internet surfing privacy may have been violated. We’re researching a case that’s about to be filed and may need some additional affected parties. Please head over to the submission page and sign up in the Requested Settlements section at TopClassActions.com. Finally, on to a case we’re researching which really chaps my hide. An attorney in our network is filing a case for member of our armed forces against an insurance company. This Army Reservist was called to duty, and like any dutiful American did their job and fulfilled their obligation to God and Country. They went to Iraq. While in Iraq they paid their premiums just like all of us do on a regular basis. When they came home, they had the unfortunate luck of getting into a car accident. When they attempted to file their claim they were denied and informed that their policy had been CANCELED. That’s right, they were never informed their policy was canceled or that there was a clause in the small print of their contract which stated that the company had the right to cancel their policy if they were switched to active duty. HOW MESSED UP IS THAT? Here’s someone who is putting their life on the line for our country and they get the rug pulled out from under them by an insurance company. I think this is DESPICABLE and should be fought vigorously. If this happened to you or someone you know, please let us know. Head over to the site and you’ll find it under Requested Settlements. As a side note, that’s why I’m with USAA. No, I didn’t get paid for saying that. I’ve been a USAA subscriber all my driving life and know they wouldn’t do this to any member of our armed forces. Let us know who did. That’s all for now! Remember, if you have a complaint about a product or service and want to take action. We want to know about it! Please fill out the Contact Us Submission Form at Top Class Actions. When applicable we forward to our team of Attorneys to review so YOU don’t get stuck taking a beating. As always, it’s free. The attorneys aren’t paid until you win or settle. In addition, have you written about us in your Blog or elsewhere? We’d love to hear about it and will post a link to your article under About Us, in our TCA in the News section. Check it out! Thanks for watching, listening or reading, we appreciate you taking the time to do so. From all of us here at Top Class Actions, Hasta Luego. Queue the music Tucker! LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
This site and email provides information about the law and class action lawsuit settlements designed to help users safely cope with their own legal needs. Legal information is NOT the same as legal advice - the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation. You should consider all postings or writings at TopClassActions.com by staff or others as personal opinion only and NOT the advice of a lawyer. TopClassActions.com Legal Statement ©2008 TopClassActions.com / Top Class Actions LLC |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 December 2008 20:28 )
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July 31st, 2008 |
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Thursday, 31 July 2008 15:55 |
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Friends, It's been a great month and a half. We've made TREMENDOUS progress on the site, and are finally ready to officially launch to the masses via a number of venues. What updates were completed you ask? - The entire site became Search Engine Optimized
- Added social networking bookmarking links (Digg, StumbleUpon, Facebook and other options at the bottom of each article or page)
- Added the BABY Pool! BET ON MY BABY AND WIN! You're also supporting a GREAT charity, so why not?
- Added the Menu Pet Foods (tainted dog/cat food from China) class action lawsuit settlement
- Updated all of the links in the lawsuit settlement pages so they go through our redirector and we can keep track of how many times they're clicked.
So, what else is going on? First, the official press release is coming out via PRWeb on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 9:15 AM PST. Keep an eye out for it! The press release is specifically about the Baby Pool, with a blurb about the site at the end of the article. I'm hoping it will not only help draw traffic to the site, but help us increase the participation in the Baby Pool. The more people who participate, the bigger the pot and the more we can donate to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It's a win for everyone! What are we watching right now? The Sprint and Verizon ETF class action lawsuits ended poorly for both wireless vendors. It appears as though the California residents in the Verizon suit will be getting a check in the mail automatically over the coming months. Unfortunately this hasn't spread out across the rest of the U.S. So far only California. Sprint ended up LOSING as well, and the judge made it plain that he plans on coming to the same ruling for other Carriers currently battling it out in the California courts. Will this be the end of Early Termination Fees as we know them? We'll have to wait and see. If you're a California resident and been charged an ETF get ready to receive a refund in the coming months! Hooray for you! On to the Baby. . . She's getting bigger and bigger in Mommy's belly! I have to tell you, this has been an amazing experience for my wife and I. It's so great to be able to see and FEEL my little baby moving around in my wife's belly. God does amazing things, and that's evident in the miracle we call pregnancy. I feel very lucky to have such a beautiful and happy wife with a baby on the way. We've also been quite happy that so far my wife has had a very pleasant experience! She's mentioned multiple times that she's really enjoyed it. That is until now of course,  the baby is so big that the room in the belly is decreasing and she's become a little kicking machine! Every kick means a healthy baby though, so hopefully we won't run into any complications over the next month. Thanks for all of your support over the past few months as we got this site up and through MANY changes. It's been an experience, and I've learned a tremendous amount. Please make sure to sign up for the mailing list so we can keep you apprised of the latest class action settlement developments. Warm Regards, Scott Hardy
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LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
This site and email provides information about the law and class action lawsuit settlements designed to help users safely cope with their own legal needs. Legal information is NOT the same as legal advice - the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation. You should consider all postings or writings at TopClassActions.com by staff or others as personal opinion only and NOT the advice of a lawyer. TopClassActions.com Legal Statement ©2008 TopClassActions.com / Top Class Actions LLC |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 December 2008 20:28 )
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June 15, 2008 |
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Sunday, 15 June 2008 16:11 |
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It's been a heck of a month! Lots of changes and the closing of one of the biggest consumer class actions we've seen this year (DeBeers.) I hope everyone participated in that lawsuit. The judge officially approved and closed the settlement on June 3rd (Article), so we should start seeing checks within the next four to six months. Fingers crossed! We're continuing to add new features to the site, along with new settlements as they come through. Over the next few months it will be VERY interesting to watch what happens with the class action lawsuits brought against the largest cellular providers in North America. Most of these lawsuits center around their charging Early Termination Fees. What's that mean? If you paid all or part of an Early Termination Fee to one of the biggies, including Verizon, Alltel or AT&T you could very likely received a check in the mail with a refund. TopClassActions.com will continue to monitor these cases and report once the carriers bend to the will of the people and start talking SETTLEMENT! Suing the big cellular carriers has become in vogue, AT&T recently settled with customers over third party data charges (http://www.wirelessweek.com/article.aspx?id=160446). Who could have seen this one coming, other then EVERYONE OUT THERE! This settlement will allow those who claim they didn't know about those $5/$15/$20 a month charges they opted in for when buying ring tones or other third party data products to get a refund for up to three months of charges. WOW! This could be huge for those parents out there who had kids that downloaded 100 ring tones one month at $1.99 each and then received the bill. They should be able to get those charges refunded back into their AT&T account. Check out the link to the settlement webpage here.
Another biggie we're waiting on is the menu foods settlement (http://www.petfoodsettlement.com). This is interesting because it includes $$$ to any of those who claim they incurred financial or emotional hardships due to the Chinese pet food being contaminated and their pets getting sick from it. Remember that? Dogs and cats across the country becoming ill because they were fed contaminated food. The initial newsbits hinted at an amount of $900 to affected pet owners to help with their emotional strain. The website should be going live any day now, and as soon as it's up we'll have an update posted. That's all for now! Keep checking back for more updates! Warm Regards, Scott LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
This site and email provides information about the law and class action lawsuit settlements designed to help users safely cope with their own legal needs. Legal information is NOT the same as legal advice - the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation. You should consider all postings or writings at TopClassActions.com by staff or others as personal opinion only and NOT the advice of a lawyer. TopClassActions.com Legal Statement ©2008 TopClassActions.com / Top Class Actions LLC |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 December 2008 20:28 )
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May 3, 2008 |
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Saturday, 03 May 2008 03:13 |
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WOW! We’re up and LIVE! Talk about exciting! It’s amazing the progress we’ve made over the past few months. I’m extremely lucky to have the team of professionals and established entrepreneurs on my team to build this site from a simple idea, to a fully featured website and business. My team has helped me move this from dream to reality and kept me grounded throughout the entire process. It started as an idea as I was flying back home and flipping through the magazine provided by the airline. In the magazine I saw a full page ad for the Airborne class action lawsuit settlement and wondered if there was a website dedicated to actively tracking these settlements and providing the details to the masses. I was amazed when I came home and after searching didn’t find any website dedicated to connecting consumers with the information I wanted to provide. I immediately called up a member of the Board of ClassActions.com, Dave Elkins, and pitched the idea. Dave liked it and encouraged me to register the domains and build the business plan. I then reached out to my good friend JR Jasperson for some help formulating the IT side of the plan and after weeks of intense planning and preparation later HERE WE ARE! I want to bridge the gap between consumers looking for information on cases like the DeBeers Diamond Class Action Lawsuit Settlement, Airborne Class Action Lawsuit Settlement, Visa/MasterCard/Diners Club Credit Card Class Action Lawsuit Settlement and the actual information and websites available. I want to provide the key information necessary, including what proof of purchase (if any) you need to partake in these settlements. I was amazed when I was asking my friends if they had even ever HEARD of any of these settlements and 9 out of 10 said no. THIS IS FREE MONEY PEOPLE!!!!!!!
That blew me away. This isn’t some internet scam to get you to send in $10 for bogus business plans or sucker your friends into some worthless multi level marketing scheme. These are 100% legitimate class action settlements where all you need to enter in is your name, address and the details of the product you purchased. They’ll send you a check. THAT’S IT! Who WOULDN’T want to take part in this? The companies involved have set aside MILLIONS of dollars to settle these lawsuits. I PERSONALLY claimed thousands from the DeBeers Diamond Class Action Lawsuit Settlement. I even sent in a copy of my appraisal to make sure that I received all that I’m eligible for. Why SHOULDN’T you claim your rightful piece of the pie? It’s NUTS not to!
Can you tell this gets me a weeeeee bit excited? ;) We’ve created THE best place to get connected to the class action lawsuit news and settlement information that YOU the consumer can take part in. If you have any news or tips you’d like to submit. Please email me. As always, my inbox is always open for comments and questions. Please come back each month for an update from me and the latest information on the Class Action Lawsuit Settlements that affect YOU!
Thanks for your time! Make sure to sign up for these settlements! The big DeBeers Diamond Class Action Lawsuit settlement concludes in MAY! Warm Regards,
Scott Hardy
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
This site and email provides information about the law and class action lawsuit settlements designed to help users safely cope with their own legal needs. Legal information is NOT the same as legal advice - the application of law to an individual's specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation. You should consider all postings or writings at TopClassActions.com by staff or others as personal opinion only and NOT the advice of a lawyer. TopClassActions.com Legal Statement ©2008 TopClassActions.com / Top Class Actions LLC |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 December 2008 20:29 )
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