All you can eat...

[markalot]

Does this look like a man who had all he could eat? --simpsons


I got this from Netflix today. Some loser sued them because, I guess, the marketing was misleading? I need to go on a killing spree...


---------------------


You are receiving this notice because you were a paid Netflix member before January 15, 2005. Under a proposed class action settlement, you may be eligible to receive a free benefit from Netflix.

A class action lawsuit entitled Chavez v. Netflix, Inc. was filed in San Francisco Superior Court (case number CGC-04-434884) on September 23, 2004. The lawsuit alleges that Netflix failed to provide "unlimited" DVD rentals and "one day delivery" as promised in its marketing materials. Netflix has denied any wrongdoing or liability. The parties have reached a settlement that they believe is in the best interests of the company and its subscribers.

Netflix will provide eligible subscribers with the benefit described below, if the settlement is approved by the Court.

* Current Netflix Members: If you enrolled in a paid membership before January 15, 2005 and were a member on October 19, 2005, you are eligible to receive a free one-month upgrade in service level. For example, if you are on the 3 DVDs at-a-time program, you will be upgraded to the 4 DVDs at-a-time program for one month. There will be no price increase during the upgraded month. (If you cancel your membership after October 19, 2005 and before you receive the upgrade, you will have to rejoin to get the upgrade.)


* Former Netflix Members: If you enrolled in a paid membership before January 15, 2005 but were not a member on October 19, 2005, you are eligible to receive a free one-month Netflix membership on your choice of the 1, 2 or 3 DVDs at-a-time unlimited program. (If you rejoin after October 19, 2005 but before you receive the free one-month membership, you will receive a credit for the free month when it becomes available.)

These benefits will be provided after the Effective Date as defined in the Settlement Agreement. Your eligibility for the benefits is based on your membership status as of October 19, 2005. The full Settlement Agreement is available for review at www.netflixsettlement.com.

You have four options to respond to the proposed settlement. You have until December 28, 2005 to make your decision:

Option 1. Sign Up For The Benefit As Part Of The Settlement
To receive the benefit, you must complete the online registration process no later than February 17, 2006, at www.netflixsettlement.com. By signing up for the benefit, you waive your right to bring a separate lawsuit against Netflix concerning the Released Claims (as defined in the Settlement Agreement found at www.netflixsettlement.com).

Option 2. Do Nothing
If you do not wish to receive the benefit, do nothing. You will not receive the benefit but will remain a Class Member. You therefore waive your right to bring a separate lawsuit against Netflix concerning the Released Claims.

Option 3. Exclude Yourself From the Class
To exclude yourself from the class, you must mail a letter by December 28, 2005. By excluding yourself, you preserve your right to bring a lawsuit against Netflix concerning the Released Claims. However, you will not get the benefit described above.

Option 4. Make An Objection To The Settlement In Court
To object to the settlement, you must file legal papers in the San Francisco Superior Court by January 5, 2006.

To receive your benefit, you must register by February 17, 2006 as described above in Option 1. You will not receive any other reminders to register for the benefit. If you have registered for the benefit and your eligibility is confirmed, then you will be provided additional information by email following the Effective Date as defined in the Settlement Agreement.

After the benefit period ends, the new or upgraded level of service will continue automatically (following an email reminder) and you will be billed accordingly, unless you cancel or modify your subscription. You can cancel or modify your subscription at any time.

In addition, if the settlement is approved by the Court, Netflix will modify portions of its Terms of Use. Netflix also will refer to its Terms of Use in certain advertisements.

To get more information about the settlement and procedures, and to take options 1, 3 or 4, visit www.netflixsettlement.com.

[Sushi]

I got the same thing. I've never been anything but happy with Netflix and am generally surprised by how quickly they get the movies to us.

I wonder if the plaintiff thought that "unlimited" DVDs meant more than three at a time (if you're on the unlimited plan)? (We found that plan gave us more than we needed--we switched down to two at a time.)

[Handy Smurf]

"Mr. Simpson, this is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film, The Never-Ending Story."



"and what did you do when you couldn't find another all-night seafood restaurant?"
"We went fishing"
"Does this sound like the actions of a man who had all he could eat?"

[aqualou]

netfix has been nothing but great. on rare occassion, we get one that's too scratched up to play, but send it back noting the condition and they send back two without asking. i have to remember to buy stock in something as soon as i find out how cool it is.

[monkey neck]

I get class action lawsuit notices alot. It's a wonder companies even survive anymore.

[aqualou]

It's a wonder companies even survive anymore.
'cept of course law firms :rolleyes:

[markalot]

It's all Big Sug's fault, fricking lawyers! :D

[tobedawg]

I got the same thing from Netflix this morning..

It's cool that I'm going to be able to get 4 movies at a time for a month, but I am still pretty peeved that legitimate lawsuits are held up from going to court right away because of asshats out to "get rich quick"..

I work in retail and If I had a dime for everytime somebody said "Well.. THAT's Misleading!", I'd be retired on Ocean front property .. READ THE FINE PRINT ASSHOLES!

[Homsar]

Anyone get sort of the same thing from Blockbuster?
I got coupons for a few free rentals and some dollars off.
Their lawsuit had something to do with the late fees.

[Tripod 3]

I think we should sue all the people that come up with these class-action lawsuits. A class-action against the class-actions.

[george]

Anyone get sort of the same thing from Blockbuster?
I got coupons for a few free rentals and some dollars off.
Their lawsuit had something to do with the late fees.

I think that was a valid suit.

Blockbuster had this "no more late fees" campaign all over the place, but it turned out you were still being charged fees if you returned a movie late. They just called them "restocking" fees instead of "late" fees.

[Homsar]

So do they still call it no late fees?
Can they just give up entirely and say "there's no way we can make you give it back so can you please, please, please give it back in a timely manner?"
Maybe extending the rental period would work.

[BigSugar]

It's all Big Sug's fault, fricking lawyers! :D

easy. all i want is what's fair, and fair seems to be about 400 million dollars.

Sincerley,
Caveman Lawyer

[george]

So do they still call it no late fees?
Can they just give up entirely and say "there's no way we can make you give it back so can you please, please, please give it back in a timely manner?"
Maybe extending the rental period would work.

They were sued here in Virginia and, as part of the settlement, they had to ease up on the new fees and make the terms of the new fee structure more clear.

I think that you now get like five extra days before the restocking fee kicks in and they have to notify you before that time that you are about to incur that charge.

[Orville Wrong]

Evan Kirchoff, whom you can guess from my sig I think is damn funny, has posted to his blog about this. Not surprisingly, I found it damn funny. Best line: "Although for a San Francisco jury, it's possible that the plaintiff's argument might have consisted of saying the word "corporations!" while making a scowly face." Here's the rest:

In other victory news, I was just now informed by email that I have won a class-action settlement against the Netflix DVD-rental-by-mail service.

A class action lawsuit entitled Chavez v. Netflix, Inc. was filed in San Francisco Superior Court (case number CGC-04-434884) on September 23, 2004. The lawsuit alleges that Netflix failed to provide "unlimited" DVD rentals and "one day delivery" as promised in its marketing materials. Netflix has denied any wrongdoing or liability. The parties have reached a settlement that they believe is in the best interests of the company and its subscribers.

I don't recall being guaranteed "one day delivery", but I suppose you could argue that the rental service is in fact "limited" by poorly-advertised constraints like the total number of DVDs in the universe and the speed of light. Plus I think it still takes about two hours to watch a two-hour movie, which is a pretty significant bottleneck right there. Although for a San Francisco jury, it's possible that the plaintiff's argument might have consisted of saying the word "corporations!" while making a scowly face.

It looks like I have a few months to decide whether I want to sign up for the exciting class benefit:

If you enrolled in a paid membership before January 15, 2005 and were a member on October 19, 2005, you are eligible to receive a free one-month upgrade in service level. For example, if you are on the 3 DVDs at-a-time program, you will be upgraded to the 4 DVDs at-a-time program for one month.

The value of this benefit is $3.00.

Perusing the long form notice, I see that Frank "unclear on the concept" Chavez is receiving a $2000 bounty for the "time and effort" involved in opening the Yellow Pages to the Lawyers section or whatever. I also note that the cited attorney's fees and costs are $2,528,000.00, which seems like about two million dollars per hour, although you have to remember that they probably only win half of these cases, not to mention all the photocopying charges.

I refuse to collect dumb class-action awards on principle (for example, back in 1996 I declined that whole $10 for being an idiot about the size of my monitor tube), but looking at this one more carefully, it seems like there's a way to at least slightly monkeywrench the process:

...You have the right to intervene in the Litigation and object to, or comment on, this settlement, award of attorneys' fees and cost or payment to the Plaintiff as set forth in section VIII.B, below.

It looks like all one has to do is mail three copies of a letter (to the court and to each side's attorneys). I don't know if anyone ever bothers to take this vaguely Pat-like course of action, or what effect a handful of letters saying "this is stupid" would have on any given settlement, let alone the overall rate of expansion in class-action lottery prizes, but if I get any spare time between now and January, I'm thinking it's worth a shot.

[markalot]

Evan Kirchoff, whom you can guess from my sig I think is damn funny, has posted to his blog about this. Not surprisingly, I found it damn funny. Best line: "Although for a San Francisco jury, it's possible that the plaintiff's argument might have consisted of saying the word "corporations!" while making a scowly face." Here's the rest:


My god that was awesome.