RCI Class action Lawsuit $12 possible

[avsheffi]

Originally Posted by markandtodd

Our postcard went into the shredder. Not worth our time.

Ours too. I get these all the time for one reason or another...mostly because of stock we own. The only time I took the time to fill one out, I got a check for $6 after about a year and a half. When I got the check, I couldn't even remember what it was for.

[Sir Aaron]

I got an awesome settlement with 24 Hour fitness through the class action. They had to give me the All clubs Ultra Super Sport at my current rate of $86 a year.

[florafauna]

Originally Posted by toasty

I'm a lawyer that specializes in plaintiff's class action litigation, and I'll tell all of you the very same thing I tell anyone that ever asks me if they should submit a claim. Yes, even if you're only getting a few cents, absolutely submit the claim. While there is obviously a compensatory component to class action litigation, the primary purpose is to deter companies from bilking consumers a little bit at a time, and submitting claims does that. Depending upon how the settlement is structured, money not claimed may revert to the defendant, in which case it won't have as strong a deterrent effect as it otherwise could.

I realize from reading the comments that some have posted already that some of you have a pretty dim view of what I do, and I'll resist the temptation to defend my job in detail because this is not really the appropriate forum for an in depth discussion of the merits of class action litigation. I will say this, though -- while you can certainly find examples of abuse of the class action device, generally speaking, class action litigation provides important protection for consumers, who would otherwise be without recourse when they're being nickeled and dimed.

Submit the claim, please!

As a consumer, the ONLY power we have in some situations is to join together & file a suit. Consumers who want to put a company on notice that it has violated some agreement have a voice in this way.

The alternative is just to let us, the consumer, continue to be 'wronged' without recourse. If attorneys are educated & trained to represent us & pursue our claim in our behalf, I say a resounding "THANK YOU!"

If the settlement amount in these class action suits is not to your liking, consider that SOMEONE cared enough about YOU being wronged that they pursued a claim in your behalf.

And to those who find those little checks of $12 annoying, you might consider cashing them & donating the money to a favorite charity. There are many in need.

[sperkins921]

I've heard many mention that they are not going to bother filling out the claim form or that they shredded the card. Is anyone going the route of opting out? Is there any point/merit to this??

I once got a class action check from an eBay settlement. For a whopping .12
I didn't even know if I could cash a check that size. Literally, would the bank teller laugh at me?

[PecosBill]

For every $12 given to a class action member, $8 is going to some lawyer. So the lawyer’s goal is to get as many people into the class group as possible. The only people benefiting is the lawyer. And the people paying for the settlement are those individuals that belong to RCI or an RCI exchange group.

[mcbuckeye]

Originally Posted by PecosBill

For every $12 given to a class action member, $8 is going to some lawyer. So the lawyer’s goal is to get as many people into the class group as possible. The only people benefiting is the lawyer. And the people paying for the settlement are those individuals that belong to RCI or an RCI exchange group.

This is my jaded view as well.

In this case, I don't even think I was "harmed," and I'm not even sure what the claim is. But if an individual was only harmed to the tune of $12, who really cares?

I can tell you, it's not worth even 5 minutes of my time to fill out some form, mail it in, and wait months to see if I ever get a $12 (or less) check.

[zafiro]

Originally Posted by markandtodd

Our postcard went into the shredder. Not worth our time.

[bakerworld]

If enough people shred will the ones who registrar get more??

[Chriskre]

I think the idea of the class action is a good idea in theory, but unfortunately in the end, all the settlements with RCI do is rubber stamp approve their rental practices by a judge. It's a sell out by the lawyers for $12. Woo Hoo, big deal. Nothing will change just like it didn't with the RCI weeks class action. In fact it got worse and this will too.

Personally I don't care because I know how to work the RCI system. Two years ago in the RCI weeks settlement, I received a resort certificate which was worth more than $12 and got me a week in Orlando in a 2 bedroom for just the exchange fee at Sheraton Vistana Resort. Unfortunately for the casual timeshare owner who trades in RCI his ignorance of the system will come with increased frustration in getting a decent exchange. Of course if they can't find anything to exchange into they can always rent it from RCI or endless-vacation-rentals.com or skyauction.com or any other number of websites they use to move that inventory.

[toasty]

Originally Posted by bakerworld

If enough people shred will the ones who registrar get more??

In some settlements this can be the case (generally where the fund would otherwise only provide a pro rata portion of class members' damages), but I looked over the settlement agreement and that isn't the case here, as there is no cap on the amount of money that could be recovered by class members. As a general statement, though, there will never be a situation where a class member would get more than their full compensation for a claim just because not enough people made claims. When there is a surplus that isn't claimed that doesn't revert to the defendant, the excess is often distributed to some charitable entity that has interests that are aligned with the underlying purpose of the suit.

Originally Posted by PecosBill

For every $12 given to a class action member, $8 is going to some lawyer. So the lawyer’s goal is to get as many people into the class group as possible. The only people benefiting is the lawyer. And the people paying for the settlement are those individuals that belong to RCI or an RCI exchange group.

I have to point out that this is just factually incorrect. For one thing, in this case -- as is often the case in cases where consumer protection statutes are in play -- the fees are completely separate and don't impact the recovery to the class at all. Even if that weren't the case, though, there's no way a judge would ever approve a fee application where the lawyers were getting 2/3 of the class' recovery. It's preposterous.

Moreover, while it is our goal to certify a class that accurately comprises everyone that was potentially harmed, there's not really any incentive for us to "get as many people into the class group as possible." The class is what it is, and you either have a claim or you don't and the class doesn't "grow" just because more people submit claims. Third-party claims administrators determine who is in and who is out, not us, and the preliminary fee application has already been submitted by the time the claims process even begins.

Originally Posted by mcbuckeye

In this case, I don't even think I was "harmed," and I'm not even sure what the claim is. But if an individual was only harmed to the tune of $12, who really cares?

If you don't think you were harmed, maybe you weren't -- just because you received that form, it doesn't mean that you have a live claim, it just means that you are in the class of people that may have been damaged.

As to the second part of your question, though, we should all care, regardless of the amount. I do a lot of antitrust work, and illegal price-fixing agreements that result in increases in prices to consumers of just a few pennies can result in millions, and occasionally billions, of dollars in extra revenue to the members of a cartel. Why should those companies have that money rather than consumers? Why not let the free market decide what an appropriate price is rather than letting companies that are supposed to be competing with one another decide what you pay? The whole point of a class action is to provide recourse against that sort of conduct, where entities are raking in profit at your expense because they know it would be silly for someone to bother to sue over $12. In the aggregate, it matters.