Buy.com class action-Hitachi fiasco. Do not delete

[Woz]

Very well said Nutiket. Thank you for your insightful comments.

All of you saying 'don't sue' and 'it will cost us in the long run' simply don't seem to have any clue. Buy.com would not be the company they are today and neither would many other e-tailors.

I want my piece. They owe me.

 

[Edgy]

Wasn't around when this actually happend (buy.com nor egghead.com), but...
Just my two cents here.

1. If a company was to post a price due to SIMPLE CLERICAL ERROR, I for one would not be so enthusiastic in trying to make them honor such price, provided that the company has taken APPROPRIATE action immediately to rectify the error. (from what I've read, buy.com reaction from buy.com regarding the monitor fiasco was not very consistent at best)

2. If an individual or individuals are being taken advantage of by large companies/corporations, this I believe fits the requirement of a class action lawsuit for the following reasons. a. To teach the defendants that they were wrong and somethings should be done immediately to make thing right and to take steps to avoid such problems in the future; b. To compensate the people that have been wronged; c. To send a message to others in society that such things are wrong and to be avoided.

3. By all the testimonials here, I get the distinct impression that buy.com has improved upon its business practices and is one of the most popular sites to shop. Now, I don't know how much $500,000.00+ is to buy.com, but after swallowing that particular "pill," I daresay that current opinions & business for buy.com has been benefited and improved as a result of this particular lawsuit.

In conclusion, I feel that if indeed a company clearly practice business unethically/unfairly, it is our duty as customers and as individuals in this society to make sure that they get what they deserve and to teach them such things are not right. (most likely through lawsuits) From what I've heard Egghead.com is such a case, and if they show improvement in business practices after a lawsuit just like buy.com did, then it's kudos for customers, Egghead.com, and for the whole industry.

Finally, my last thoughts are that, it is indeed sad to see that a business such as buy.com that can be so good, had to go through a lawsuit to force them to be that way.

Never shopped at Egghead.com, but buy.com & onvia.com is a vendor I frequent.

 

[Lark888]

It's amazing how much comment can be made by individuals who were not involved nor understand what actually was happening at the time. With respect to BigBomb's comment - I entered an order as the deals on the 'net are often "unbelievable" especially during the start-ups. How about $175 off orders over $200 -- must be a typo, eh? Or $20 of $20 (Mobshop) or $20 free to start (BestBuy) or... the list goes on. The problem here was that Buy.com took my money, shipped monitors, lied to many when asked about the product and changed their story multiple times trying to find a way to make it go away. The TRUTH would have worked fine with many, many people.

Buy.com was doing some shady business at this time & it is the cumulative effect that caused them to be judged in the wrong at small claims courts and this Class Action suit. Buy.com today IS a better business - in part due to having to come to terms with these judgements.

 

[WATERBUFFALO]

THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE ANY CHANCE OF SEEING ANY MONEY ARE THE LYERS, I MEAN LAWYERS. THE REST OF YOU ARE GOING TO WASTE A LOT OF TIME FOR NOTHING.

IF YOU ENJOY BEING AGGRAVATED, HAVE A GOOD ONE. THIS WILL GO ON FOR AT LEAST TWO OR THREE YEARS, IF YOU'RE LUCKY.

 

[Super6]

Was suprised to see this thread after so long...brings back some fond memories. Buy.com is a far better company today than back when and we WMC can take credit for that. I was one of the few who took them to task in small claims and resolved the issue to my satisfaction. I wasn't aware that the class action suit was ongoing.

How's it going Harv? I'm up in Lassen Cnty. these days. Nice to see that Red Dawn is still up to no good.

Super6

 

[Midnight Rambler]

<< THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE ANY CHANCE OF SEEING ANY MONEY ARE THE LYERS, I MEAN LAWYERS. THE REST OF YOU ARE GOING TO WASTE A LOT OF TIME FOR NOTHING. >>

Obviously you did not/can not read. As for wasting time, how can it be wasting time when it requires no action on one's part to collect? As for the lawyers, I'd bet they'll end up with 1/3. I'll me more than happy to get 2/3 divided by the number of customers affected.

Too bad you aren't in on the deal. If you were, you could use some of the money to get yourself a new keyboard, as your CAPS key looks to be broken. :Q

 

[Insomniac]

Midnight Rambler: I ask again, are all of the customers going to receive their 'piece' or will only the people who get this e-mail get something? Did you get it?

 

[ride525]

To all those that keep saying

<< DON'T SUE BUYCOM >>



Well....it's too late....

This is a SETTLEMENT.......so everyone that bought the Hitachi monitor gets an equal piece....one piece per person, it doesn't matter how many monitors you bought.......apparently you get a piece automatically, without doing anything, unless you &quot;opt out&quot; of the settlement

 

[Ribbet]

Insomniac ...

If you ordered the monitor and you haven't heard from them: a) your records got lost; b) you changed e-mail addresses; c) something else went wrong.

Here are a few snippets from the e-mail we received, **including** the e-mail address you might want to send inquiries to.

======================== begin quote
If you are a consumer who, during the period February 5, 1999, through and including February 8, 1999, purchased or attempted to purchase a Hitachi Superscan 753 computer monitor from Buy.com Inc. for $164.50 and who have been unable to do so because Buy.com, Inc. refused to provide the product in question at that price, you may be a member of the Settlement Class described herein.
.....

If your mailing address has changed since February 8, 1999, you must send an e-mail to settlementadmin@marlinsaltzman.com. Your e-mail must contain your name, former mailing address and new mailing address.
....
If you wish to opt-out of the settlement, you must send an e-mail to settlementadmin@marlinsaltzman.com on or before November 21, 2000...

(NOTE: no date in 1st paragraph, but there is a date in the 2nd. I'd urge you to move ASAP.)
.....

The proposed settlement provides for payment of the sum ... $575,000 ... to a settlement fund..... Class Counsel will apply to the court for reimbursement of their actual out of pocket costs, and an award of attorneys' fees in the sum of $190,000.

Attorneys for the Class
Louis M. Marlin, Esq.
Marlin &amp; Saltzman
203 N. Golden Circle, Suite 310
Santa Ana, CA 92705
.....

The amount each class member will receive is not known at this time.... The settlement fund, less Court-approved attorneys' fees, costs, expenses and reimbursements, shall be equally divided among class members. Each class member shall receive one share of the fund, regardless of the number of monitors a class member attempted to purchase.

======================== end quote

Settlement Possibilities (Beware: wild guesses coming in 2 &amp; 3):::

1 *** $575,000 minus $190,000 (attorneys' fees) = $385,000

2 *** $385,000 minus (???) $150,000 (?out of pocket cost?) = $235,000

3 *** $235,000/1400 people (?? pulling a # outta my *ss) = $168/person

I hope the LAWYERS here can better estimate what average &quot;out of pocket costs&quot; might be for a case like this. $150k is a **wild guess** (depositions, court reporters, filing fees, clerical, fax/mail/phone/office rent, 3-martini lunches, ???). I'm certain they'll pad it as much as possible.

We also don't know how many **people** ordered. In the last 1 1/2 years, I've seen #s of 850, 1000, 1400, 1600, etc., but only Buy.Com/Lawyers know how many **people** ordered (versus how many monitors were ordered).

Having received **nothing** from many stock-related class action suits, I **expect nothing**. I hope others with far more experience and knowledge of this situation than we have can offer more reasonable estimates. I'd be interested to hear 'em -- but will still expect nothing until we hear for sure.

 

[pjs]

Wow, If I get $168, I think I will order a monitor from Buycomp.

Paul

 

[gregshin]

I'm still waiting for my damn Hitachi monitor.

 

[WoundedWallet]

It will be a shock if it turns out that a lot more than 1600 ordered the monitor. So I'd say minimum $110.00 if they(lawyers) take 2/3 for themselves and 1600 people ordered. And maximum $220.00 if they take 40% for themselves and 1500 people ordered.

In either case I think buycom will see this money back from most of us(in form of purchases), so their loss will be smaller than it looks.

And it will be just in time for Christmas. Have you started your list?

 

[Insomniac]

Ribbet: Thank you for the information. I just sent them e-mail. Funny thing is, I changed my e-mail address on September 30th. After having it almost 5 years.

 

[DirkBelig]

I got my e-mail a couple of days ago, several days after this thread started. I would've been happy if Buy.com had just bitten the bullet and honored the price. It would've cost them the same amount (the settlement is the difference between the listed and actual price times the number of buyers) and they could've avoided all the ill-will.

 

[DW]

Anybody received more 1 email from them?
I have received 3 exactly same email????

 

[Robor]

I've had 2 copies of the same Email.

Rob

 

[jk]

If DirkBelig is right and the award is the difference between the price they meant and the price they set then it will be $400 - lawyer fees. This is from the e-mail:

Buy.com contends that the listing of the Hitachi Superscan monitor at a price of $164.50 was a data entry error, and that the intended price was $564.50.

$575,000 divided by $400 = 1437 people in the class.

 

[iluvdeal]

I deleted those emails I got from them regarding the lawsuit, thought it was spam. So, if my email and address have not changed, do I have to do anything? Or do I just sit here and wait for a check?

 

[Onepotato]

Buy.com has for some time been mispricing. You could find an item for say 19.99 and when you go to checkout the price is 21.99 and your credit card gets an entirely different charge 20.49.

Evidence supported a monetary judgement against Buy.com and too, Buy.com agreed as part of the settlement to overhaul several of their business practices.

Even Buy.com recognizes they were WRONG! Did Buy.com deserve to be sued for an &quot;obvious&quot; pricing error? They have been pulling crap like this for years now. No doubt DUH at least a few cheated customers called to complain. Those who complained probably received a refund but mant cheated customers either didn't notice or decided they didn't have 2 hours to waste trying to get back a few bucks.

... and why is it assumed companies like Buy.com make &quot;obvious&quot; pricing errors. After all these years of pulling these pricing errors and zero done to change the business, could it be that Buy.com is intentionally doing this? Damn straight and numerous companies do this. It's why there are bait-and-switch laws and laws to protect consumers who buy a product and denied the payed-for item purchased.

I've used Buy.com for 4 purchase and they billed incorrectly, in their own favor, two of those four times.

This class-act suit is KARMA or JUSTICE well deserved!

 

[davisdog]

I've got the same email from them 4 times over the last 24 hours...I bet they are trying to run up their out of pocket expenses by sending it over and over again

 

[w3b]

when is Egghead lawsuit gonna start?

 

[Shotgun]

So is VA still charging people's credit cards WAY up front before shipping something a couple months later???

Sounds like it's time for a class action to get back the interest that they made on our thousands of dollars all of us here let them &quot;borrow&quot; for a while.... hehe j/k of course.

 

[Thira]

America has a serious problem- lawyers- these guys fu(k it up for all of us. The rest of the world is laughing at the USA.
I am sick of these guys.
I say go ahead &amp; sue if you have never made a mistake.

 

[pjs]

If Buycomp hadn't messed up repeatedly and really big and then became the queen of deNile when the errors were pointed out to them by customers, they wouldn't have had to offer this settlement. Yeah, sure, the rest of the world is laughing at us.

Paul

 

[shamu]

According to cnet, each of 7,000 will receive about $50.



<< But Buy.com attorney Michael Hornak said the settlement was more about the e-tailer cutting its losses. After paying attorneys fees and court costs, approximately 7,000 affected customers would each receive about $50 under the agreement, which still needs a final approval from the court. >>




cnet article


heh