Recently, the Seattle law firm Hagens Berman reported to us an issue that can benefit you! We urge you, if eligible, to claim a portion of a new $180 million settlement. The settlement applies to anyone who purchased a computer with a disk drive between 2003-2008 from an indirect seller (i.e. such as Walmart, Amazon, etc. Not directly from the manufacturer), and live in one of the 24 states listed below. Claim what is yours from the Disk Drive Settlement today! There is no proof of purchase necessary, and consumers can fill out the short claims form online: https://www.dollarsfordiskdrives.com/ Consumers who purchased computers from 2003-2008 now have a longer window of time to file a claim for a portion of a $180 million settlement against electronics manufacturers, according to class counsel, Hagens Berman. The extension comes from the court, and moves the claim filing deadline to Oct. 30, 2017 for any indirect purchasers (those bought from a retail store or website, for example) of certain optical disk drive (ODD) products. Details about the suit, brought by Hagens Berman, and more information about the settlement are available below. WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT?   The $180 million lawsuit alleges a conspiracy involving ODD suppliers to fix, maintain or stabilize the prices of optical disk drives at artificially high levels in violation of federal and state antitrust laws for more than five years. In other words, consumers overpaid due to an ongoing scheme and agreement between the defendants. ODD refers to a DVD-RW, DVD-ROM, or COMBO drive manufactured by one or more defendants or their asserted conspirators. There are three separate groups of defendants in this lawsuit: 1.) Koninklijke Philips N.V., Lite-On IT Corporation, Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions Corporation, Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (collectively “PLDS”); 2.) Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer North America, Inc., Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., and Pioneer High Fidelity Taiwan Co., Ltd. (collectively “Pioneer”); and 3.) TEAC America, Inc.; TEAC Corporation (collectively “TEAC”). AM I AFFECTED? COULD I FILE A CLAIM? You may be eligible to file a claim in this case if you:
  • Indirectly* bought a computer with an internal optical disk drive and/or a stand-alone disk drive,
  • Between Apr. 1, 2003 and Dec. 31, 2008,
  • For your own use, and not for resale and
  • While a resident of any of these 24 states: AZ, CA, DC, FL, HI, KS, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, OR, TN, UT, VT, WV or WI.
*“Indirectly” means the product was purchased at a retail store or online site (ex: Walmart, Amazon.com, Best Buy, etc.), and not the manufacturer, directly. HOW DO I FILE A CLAIM? A detailed notice, which includes additional information about the settlements, as well as the ability to file an online claim, is available at http://www.dollarsfordiskdrives.com/. WHAT ARE THE SETTLEMENT BENEFITS? The settlements provide for $55.5 million in recovery for class members (see below) in addition to $124.5 million already reached with four defendant families (Panasonic, NEC, Sony and HLDS) for a total settlement of $180 million. Specifically, the PLDS settlement fund is $40 million, the Pioneer settlement fund is $10.5 million and the TEAC settlement fund is $5 million (for a total of $55.5 million). WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION? For more details about the Optical Disk Drive settlements, visit http://www.dollarsfordiskdrives.com/, or call 1-877-368-9020. The settlement administrator may also be reached via mail at the following address: In re ODD Products Indirect Purchaser Litigation, P.O. Box 43424. Providence, RI 02940-3424. If you have any questions about the lawsuit or the settlement please reach out to us today! We can be reached via our online complaint portal, or directly by email at ConsiderTheConsumer@gmail.com.