# Class action suit - what'd you buy 10-15 years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219 "2018-10-19T17:34:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/1 "2018-10-19T17:34:57Z")
I got an official looking email overnight. I cautiously opened it but of course did not click on any of the links. However, google brought up a number of hits, including a [press release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/if-you-purchased-a-computer-with-an-internal-or-external-disk-drive-between-2003-2008-a-class-action-settlement-may-affect-you-300731041.html) from last week which included the same website. I’m posting this both as a public service announcement & a WTF. The gist of it is if you bought an optical (CD, DVD) drive between 2003 & 2008 you’re eligible for $10 per purchased drive, either a stand alone drive or as part of a new computer. I know I owned a computer during this time; however, I can’t tell you how many I purchased during this time nor exactly how many drives I bought because it was _10-15 years ago_! At some point, two optical drives was the norm & I know I had them in my computers. Now I don’t live in one of the qualifying states so I’m not going to fill it out but any number between 0-6 is a reasonable guess; I guess they’re just going to pay reasonable low numbers with out any proof of purchase? I don’t have those receipts, records, or even those computers any more. How would they be able to challenge someone’s answer & isn’t this ripe for low level scamming? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/2 "2018-10-19T19:21:23Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > How would they be able to challenge someone’s answer & isn’t this ripe for low level scamming? Low level scamming is probably just a cost calculated into the settlement. I bet they pay anyone’s claims for 1 or 2 drives and challenge the others to come up with some kind of evidence. I have emails from more than 15 years ago, and even then I was buying most computer equipment online, so I don’t know that it would be that hard to substantiate such a claim. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/3 "2018-10-19T19:35:03Z")
Huh. We’ll see if I get $20 in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/4 "2018-10-19T20:56:07Z")
Huh. I’ve owned the business I have now for at least 18 years, and could easily imagine answering “8”. Theoretically, I could possibly find records supporting that claim (credit card details from Comp USA?) but I wouldn’t initiate a search for that kinda money. ETA: no Pennsylvania. Easy come, easy go ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/5 "2018-10-19T21:11:19Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I bet they pay anyone’s claims for 1 or 2 drives and challenge the others to come up with some kind of evidence. It says the class settlement is $25 million, and “up to” $10 per drive. Perhaps it’s based on a model of paying $10 per drive if the total number of claimed drives is less than 2.5 million, otherwise paying less per drive so that the total payout is capped at $25 million. Not that it makes any difference to your reasoning - you still want to claim for as high a number as possible while remaining below what you guess the “evidence required” threshold might be. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/6 "2018-10-19T21:16:05Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Low level scamming is probably just a cost calculated into the settlement. > > I bet they pay anyone’s claims for 1 or 2 drives and challenge the others to come up with some kind of evidence. > > I have emails from more than 15 years ago, and even then I was buying most computer equipment online, so I don’t know that it would be that hard to substantiate such a claim. I’ll bet you’re close. I’m gonna put my money on a computer program that decides how many and which claims to audit. You have to balance the cost of checking every claim vs cost of fraud. There will be a goldielox zone of profitability. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/7 "2018-10-19T23:59:48Z")
Thanks for the info. I bought a computer in 2006. I still have it - I’m using it was a side table in my office. 🙂 So I could give them the model number if they ask. Actually, I may still have the receipt in my files. Maybe I’ll be surprised one day with a check. I’m still waiting on a check from the Fresh Milk Products Antitrust Litigation class action that I filed for in 2017. You had to have purchased milk products since 2003. I check the website occasionally. It’s settled but still being challenged. I should get $6.79 eventually. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/8 "2018-10-20T00:26:51Z")
Eh. My kids build my computers with parts from Fry’s. It’s a question of whether the receipt file got thick enough to toss things more than five years old. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/9 "2018-10-20T01:03:41Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Eh. My kids build my computers with parts from Fry’s. It’s a question of whether the receipt file got thick enough to toss things more than five years old. Most of my purchases are online, but when I went paperless (eight years ago), I began scanning (with OCR) any hard-copy document which had the slightest possibility being needed for situations like this. In fact, onetime I had to pull up an old Fry’s receipt because of some defective product. Not that it was more than five years old, but I’ve had other documents from more than five years back suddenly become useful, and being able to quickly find a scanned image with an easy search has gotten me a few bucks in class-action suits. > [@Riemann](#): > > . . . the total payout is capped at $25 million. Yeah, so in the end, the respondent company is going to pay the same amount. I just wonder who goes through all the work of legitimating the dubious claims? Which party? Usually you get notice of these suits because they have your name on record anyway. What I don’t understand is why it involves ALL DVD drives, and not just those manufactured by Toshiba and Samsung. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/10 "2018-10-20T02:28:56Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > What I don’t understand is why it involves ALL DVD drives, and not just those manufactured by Toshiba and Samsung. It’s about collusion to fix prices. Presumably the reasoning is that even if only those two colluded, it would have an effect on the whole marketplace, so they are liable for you paying too high a price whoever you bought it from. And settling based on that theory is probably sensible given the pragmatic issue that it’s hard enough to prove you bought one at all, let alone who made the one you bought. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/11 "2018-10-20T04:45:35Z")
My first thought: _Do’h! I live in Texas._ My second thought: _But in this time period, I lived in Tennessee. Whoo-hoo!_ Riches, here I come! (Just made my claim, btw.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/12 "2018-10-20T13:33:03Z")
I’ve only ever gotten a response on these when it was as easy as checking the defendant’s company records. For example, the TicketMaster settlement or Lenovo got caught jacking up prices for fake “discounts” and had to send everyone who bought from their website a $50 check. The wide open ones seem to only pay the lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/13 "2018-10-20T14:24:24Z")
The site says > [@](#): > > Do I need proof of purchase for each optical disk drive claim? > > No, proof of purchase is not required given the timeline of 2003-2008. However, you should make certain to report the total number of devices/drives that you would testify to at trial under oath if required. We reserve the right to audit any large volume claim. So you don’t need proof, and I doubt they’d drag you across the country to testify for anything less than enterprise type numbers (hundreds/thousands). However, it wouldn’t surprise me if they required people with over a certain amount to at least sign an affidavit. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/class-action-suit-whatd-you-buy-10-15-years-ago/823219/14 "2018-10-20T14:29:30Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I’ve only ever gotten a response on these when it was as easy as checking the defendant’s company records. For example, the TicketMaster settlement or Lenovo got caught jacking up prices for fake “discounts” and had to send everyone who bought from their website a $50 check. The wide open ones seem to only pay the lawyers. The mundanetities of life 10-15 years ago escape me. Did I do online shopping back then? What computer make did I even own back then. I’m assuming from the email that I got that I purchased at least one drive & somehow, somewhere gave my email address. I think there was a Dell, which is probably where they got my email address from, I can’t recall. I don’t normally fill out [del]product marketing[/del] warranty cards but maybe I did for this for some reason. However, the thing that’s getting me is this line: > [@](#): > > The settlement is in addition to $180 MILLION already recovered on behalf of class members in settlements with other defendants. Was there, say a whopping $50 or $100 I missed from the other suit(s) that I had no knowledge of? Was that state-limited, too? It it worth even a couple of minutes of Googling to try & find out given I’m probably past the window to become a class member? Nah, probably not.