Forum Overview :: American McGee's Honda Civic :: I forgot one other thing about Class Actions

[quote name="Tansin A. Darcos (TDARCOS)"]Most class action defendants have gotten a lot smarter about class actions now. Only the lawyers make any money these days. The law firm that filed the class action gets a big check, say a million to ten million depending on the size of the class they can get certified and maybe the class plaintiff might get some money but even then maybe not. But you as the victim of the misconduct do not get any money; the manufacturer makes up for the alleged loss to the consumers from its previous action by a <i>reduction in future purchase price</i> if you buy more of the offending manufacturer's product. You <em>do not</em> get a rebate check or any cash <i>at all</i>; all that you get is the opportunity to buy another item at a future date at a discount. Discounts not given out are forfeited and the manufacturer does not provide cash in kind or product to anyone for the unused discounts. The manufacturer wins because they simply make less money on what they sell in the future, they do not have to pay the customers (except perhaps for the lead class plaintiff and his or her lawyer) any money and they use it to sell more stuff. And because a class action bars anyone who is part of the class from suing, you lose unless you proactively take effort - presuming you know you've been included in the class - to opt out of the class and then deciding to choose to get your own lawyer and sue. And the settlement generally has a sticking clause, the manufacturer gets to duck out of the settlement and go to trial if "too many" people actually do opt out of the settlement. I think these <i>future discount</i> settlements would come a cropper if the amount paid to the class-action plaintiff attorneys were based on the percentage of settlements actually redeemed.[/quote]