Three Class-Action Lawsuits

This morning I received an email notifying me that I had been identified as a "class member" in a class-action lawsuit that has been brought against Lexington Law Firm. Lexington is a credit repair service whose services I had used for about four months or so last summer.

The notice was in regards to a settlement that had been proposed, but not yet approved by the courts, between the plaintiff(s) and defendants in the lawsuit. The settlement included, in my case, a free month of a particular service of my choice, -- of either (a) upgraded repair service or (b) credit score consulting service -- pending court approval of the settlement.

Although I think the benefit falls well short of what I believe Lexington Law Firm is capable of providing, I do not wish to become involved in the lawsuit any more than what is required of me in order to receive the benefits offered. I have more things to worry about than the results of a lawsuit against a company I did business with for four months last year. I will just sit back and enjoy the benefits.

However, I find it noteworthy to mention that I've found myself in two similar situations before, as a "class member" in a class-action lawsuit, and I do enjoy being atleast somewhat involved in the judicial system of the United States. Coincidentally, both of these lawsuits were with movie rental services:

It was nearly two years ago I responded to a notice regarding a lawsuit being brought against Hollywood Video, regarding the "extended rental fees" that had been charged to many customers, including myself. As a result, several months after responding, I received ten rent-one-get-one-free coupons usable at any Hollywood Video store. How did this benefit me? What I wasn't told ahead of time was that (a) the first rented movie, for which I had to pay, had to be a "new release" movie, and (b) the free rented movie could not be a "new release" movie. I probably spent more money at Hollywood Video than I would have had I not received those coupons at all.

Last November I received a notice regarding another class-action lawsuit being brought against Netflix. This lawsuit was regarding Netflix's advertising claims that customers would receive the DVDs they rent online "in one business day", which, given the unpredictable nature of the United States Postal Service, cannot be true and/or guaranteed. (Netflix has since changed its advertising using more protective "adhesion contract" language.)

In this case, as in the last, the terms of the settlement were not very beneficial for the class members. It included one free month of movie rentals, according the the service plan to which the member subscribed or subscribes, after which an automatic payment would be charged to me, renewing the service, unless the member calls before the free month of service ends.

This time, instead of responding with a form stating that I "accepted" the settlement, I chose another of my options, which was to "refuse" the settlement offer altogether. If enough people refused the settlement, Netflix would be forced back to the drawing board to concoct another settlement offer. Poor them!

For the record, I refuse, ahead of time, to apologize for their inconvenience!