Court action taken against PayPal- Question for any of you PayPal users out there...

[tenguzero]

Did anyone else get an email about a lawsuit against Paypal? Apparently a few people filed a lawsuit claiming Paypal violated a part of the EFTA (Electronic Funds Transfer Act) something about failure to properly disclose statements to members, as well as placing "inappropriate restrictions" on members accounts. Personally, I've never actually used my Paypal account (which I set up in or around 2001.) This suit involves members who joined between 10/1999 and 01/2004. According to this big legal statement I received, they settled to the tune of 9.3 million claiming no wrongdoing on their behalf. Roughly 1 million was set aside for any members like myself who aren't Dispute Resolution Claimants (didn't directly experience any mistreatment at the hands of Paypal, but are still included in the suit since they are members.)

Anywho, apparently there's some forms to be filled out if you want to be included in the settlement, at which time they'll verify your claim as a member etc. etc., or otherwise you have to submit a snailmail letter or something (I haven't read all the details) declining to join in the settlement. Has anyone else received this notice? (you'll receive an email if you're an affected party.) If so, what action will you take? Anyone interested in legal stuff? (i'm not exactly a fan of it) If so, I'll send you a copy of the letter and you can let me know what you think.

[93rollaracer]

i got it too. i filled out the form and sent it in. i only used my account once, but if i can get some money out of the deal, then why the hell not?

from what you've said and what i'm getting from the e-mail you can either fill out the form that says i want in on the settlement but i won't sue you anymore or say i don't wanna be in on the settlement but i can sue you. personally, i have no reason to sue them so i said i want in.

and from what i understood, the settlement hasn't been approved yet...they're gonna discuss it in court sometime in septemeber

[tenguzero]

Yeah, that could be it. I didn't really read the thing too well (maybe tomorrow)

[Moppie]

Im not even sure its real.

I got one the other day on my Yahoo account and had a good read of it, and it just looks like useless legal jargon.
However, the day before I got sent a Virus to my AF account, and it was from an @paypal address.


I thought I would let it sit and wait for a bit, and see if any disuccsions showed up on the net.
It looks to me like a great new way to spam people, those that reply to the emial and fill out the forms instantly make themselves targets.

I also figured that Paypal getting sued would make the new somewhere.

[tenguzero]

http://news.com.com/2100-1017-842240.html

I hadn't heard anything until I received the email.

[93rollaracer]

o well...i get shit loads of spam as it is...a lil more isn't gonna hurt anythign

[damir831]

Originally Posted by Moppie

Im not even sure its real.

I got one the other day on my Yahoo account and had a good read of it, and it just looks like useless legal jargon.

I received it too

The email wasn't from paypal it was from someone else, but who else would know what your paypal address is and email you this. I bet someone was sending this out to random people hoping they'd get answers. I mean paypal is not small and I'm sure you'd hear something about this in the news.

Whatever forms you filled out, I'm sure that they'll use that information for something other than paypal, like junk mail.

Be realistic, noone's gonna INVITE you to receive money. And the more people they get the less they get.

[eversio11]

Remember that compact disc snaffu about a year ago? Some kind of settlement with the recording industry and anyone that bought a CD between like 98 and 2003 got some money back. That turned about to be real.

[eclipse2quick21]

Originally Posted by eversio11

Remember that compact disc snaffu about a year ago? Some kind of settlement with the recording industry and anyone that bought a CD between like 98 and 2003 got some money back. That turned about to be real.

lol yeah man i filled out that form like a year ago and got $23.11 from that.

[tenguzero]

that link I posted is to a CNET article about it, so I'm pretty sure it's legit.

[eversio11]

Originally Posted by tenguzero

that link I posted is to a CNET article about it, so I'm pretty sure it's legit.

Published: February 21, 2002, 11:05 AM PST

[damir831]

Originally Posted by 93rollaracer

i got it too. i filled out the form and sent it in. i only used my account once, but if i can get some money out of the deal, then why the hell not?

from what you've said and what i'm getting from the e-mail you can either fill out the form that says i want in on the settlement but i won't sue you anymore or say i don't wanna be in on the settlement but i can sue you. personally, i have no reason to sue them so i said i want in.

and from what i understood, the settlement hasn't been approved yet...they're gonna discuss it in court sometime in septemeber

Alright now that it might be true I read the form that I got again.

Did everyone read this part on the form?

"...requires you to provide certain identifying information and sign a statement under penalty of perjury authenticating your claim, which may be subject to verification by PayPal's records"

So unless they had mess up your account or screwed around with it, you pretty much can't do anything, and I don't know if they can sue YOU for trying to screw them.

Did I read this right or what?




1. Certain Definitions
Certain capitalized words are used in this part of the Notice to describe the way in which the Net Settlement Fund will be allocated. These capitalized words have the following meanings:
(a) "Released Persons" means PayPal and its past and present partners, affiliates, predecessors, successors, assigns, parents, subsidiaries, officers, directors, attorneys, and employees.

(b) "Fund Claimants" are class members who submit timely, valid claims in accordance with the procedures described in this notice.

(c) "Dispute Resolution Claimants" are Fund Claimants who contend that, prior to February 1, 2004, they:

(i) experienced or reported to PayPal an unauthorized or incorrect electronic transfer to or from their PayPal account including, without limitation, electronic transfers initiated by (a) the Fund Claimant; (b) PayPal in connection with, among other things, chargebacks, refunds, buyer complaints, PayPal's Seller Protection Policy, Buyer Complaint Process and/or Buyer Protection Policy; or (c) any third party;

(ii) had access to their PayPal account improperly, incorrectly or erroneously limited or restricted, in whole or in part;

(iii) made a request for information in connection with PayPal's restriction or limitation of the Fund Claimant's PayPal account or regarding an incorrect or unauthorized electronic transfer to which PayPal did not respond at all or did not respond to the Fund Claimant's satisfaction.
(d) "Statutory Damage Fund Claimants" are all Fund Claimants who are not Dispute Resolution Claimants.

2. Statutory Damage Fund Claimants
The plan of allocation designates $1 million of the Net Settlement Fund to a "Statutory Damage Fund," to be distributed equally among all Fund Claimants who are not Dispute Resolution Claimants. This means that if you are a member of the Class and do not fall within the definition of a "Dispute Resolution Claimant," as set out above, you can make a claim for a payment from the Statutory Damage Fund. The Statutory Damage Fund provides compensation for potential statutory damages under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act ("EFTA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1693 et seq. Statutory damages under the EFTA are limited by law to no more than $500,000 for any class of individuals claiming "the same failure to comply." Plaintiffs' counsel contended in the litigation and for purposes of settlement that PayPal was potentially liable for multiple failures to comply, a position PayPal vigorously opposed.

The Statutory Damage Fund Claim Form requires you to provide certain identifying information and sign a statement under penalty of perjury authenticating your claim, which may be subject to verification by PayPal's records. To make a claim for payment from this fund, please complete and submit the Statutory Damage Fund Claim Form available on the Internet at https://www.paypal.com/settlement/ in accordance with the instructions on the form.

[damir831]

Originally Posted by eversio11

Published: February 21, 2002, 11:05 AM PST

Yeah, It takes a while in cases like this.

But it still makes me think, what if some scammer read that article from 2 years ago and now they're saying that there's a settlement when there really isn't. Is there any RECENT news on this?

[damir831]

This might be another piece to this puzzle.

I'm about to send them my form

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07...ss_settlement/

[tenguzero]

Good follow-ups Damir. I guess I'll fill out said form, and try to get my hand into the settlement pie. Yup, I can just taste that $4.50 right now (taking into account the number of other members who will probably file into this 1 Million.) But, if I read it correctly, you STILL have to send a letter to them if you DON'T want to be involved. What's that about? Ugh. It's just too hot and humid here right now to be reading legal documents on my computer