Once a subscriber gives a company their credit/debit card or bank information to charge subscription fees, some companies will take advantage of that to raise their fees without notifying their subscribers. Such is allegedly the case with the Chicago Tribune.
Cheryl Naedler and Theodore Raab, two Tribune subscribers, filed a class-action lawsuit against the company in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The lawsuit alleges that the Chicago Tribune breached its contract with subscribers and violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act by charging an inflated subscription fee, without warning subscribers at least 30 days in advance of the change.
According to the class counsel, what the Chicago Tribune should have done, “is send notice at least one billing cycle in advance saying we’re going to increase it … if you agree to pay. And they didn’t do it.”
Our Chicago class action lawyers note that the Chicago Tribune recently began mailing out a proposed offer to settle the lawsuit. Although the company denies the allegations, it said that it reached the settlement to, “avoid the cost, risk, and delay of litigation and uncertainty of trial” according to the notice.
If the court approves the settlement, about 41,000 subscribers will receive $6.50 each as part of the settlement. Naedler and Raab, as the class representatives, will receive $2,000 each.
Our Chicago class action lawyers have brought class action cases involving mass consumer product defects, false advertising and failure to honor warranties similar to the claims in this case. We are looking for new class actions to pursue involving defective products. Contact us if you feel you have a claim at our toll free number 630-333-0333 or filling out an online contact form.
Our Chicago consumer rights private law firm handles individual and class action unfair debt collection and other consumer fraud cases that government agencies and public interest law firms such as the Illinois Attorney General may not pursue. Class action lawsuits our law firm has been involved in or spear-headed have led to substantial awards totalling over a million dollars to organizations including the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Consumer Law Center. Lubin Austermuehle is proud of our achievements in assisting national and local consumer rights organizations obtain the funds needed to ensure that consumers are protected and informed of their rights. By standing up to consumer fraud and consumer rip-offs, and in the right case filing consumer protection lawsuits and class-actions you too can help ensure that other consumers’ rights are protected from consumer rip-offs and unscrupulous or dishonest practices.
Our Schaumburg and Mt. Prospect consumer lawyers provide assistance in fair debt collection, consumer fraud and consumer rights cases including in Illinois and throughout the country. You can look here to see a description of the some of the many individual and class-action consumer cases we have handled. You can contact one of our Illinois consumer protection lawyers who can assist in lemon law, unfair debt collection, wage claims, unpaid overtime and other consumer, consumer fraud or consumer class action cases by filling out the contact form at the side of this blog.