Ask Me Help Desk - Class Action Law Suits

Class Action Law Suits

If a person wanted to start a class Action how would this be done? It seems to me most of these are usually against a large business on a national level. There is a website that provides a service free of charge to people and was wondering if that could be a reason for a class action?

Class action suits seek financial damages and there's little incentive unless the sued party has deep pockets. Attorneys ate typically only paid as a percentage of an award or settlement. If they loose they loose money. So they won't take a case that isn't very promising for a big award.

Why would offering a free service be grounds for any law suit though? That makes no sense at all.

A class action occurs when there is a large group of people who are being harmed by the actions of an entity. Before a class action can be entered, the attorney needs to sign up a significant number of people and show they were possible harmed by something the defendant did.

What do you think qualifies as a cause of action here?

Class action procedures are for attorneys representing a "class". If you are not an attorney, it is not likely that the court will certify it as a class action.

I'm assuming this is about the chain store that kept selling you tainted product?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

I'm assuming this is about the chain store that kept selling you tainted product?

Reply:
No that is a different situation that probably only affected myself. I think I mentioned something about a website. Like how can a website survive that basically gives away something you would have to pay for? Secondly the people that abuse this gift like they are entitled to do so. I think something legally should be done to stop the people who abuse the gift that is available without any way to limit the use of the website.

It's the law of supply and demand, people being entrepreneurs.

If I see a way to make money and people are foolish enough to pay me for it, whose fault is that?

I have an argument with paid search sites which basically sell you what you can get for free and it's highly unreliable.

That doesn't mean that the people who sell the info should be penalized. It means that the people who pay aren't well educated in what is available.

Hello g:

I feel the same way... I PAY for TV, but did you know there are TV channels that are FREE off the air? That ain't right. If you get your class action started, let me know who your lawyer is. I'm going to file suit.

excon

In most cases a web site never gives something free, there are catches to it, you have to join memberships, or there is shipping fees. Often a shipping fee cover the actual cost.
You are so vague I will not even guess at trying to give you a good answer.

Tell us what type of product is being given away, what is the terms, and so on, for more help

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

I
You are so vague I will not even guess at trying to give you a good answer.

Nearly every question they have posted is incredibly vague.

Lawyers do free consultations to...

1. Get you in the door because that is half the battle of making a sale.

2. To see if your case has merit ( or has a chance of winning. And that doesn't mean a 100% victory , even a reduction in penalty is a win).

You would have to be able to find others willing to participate. I have gotten letters over the past few years for various items that I have purchased that we're going CA. Most of them stated up front that I stood to gain ____ $. Which usually wasn't much and wasn't worth my time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

In most cases a web site never gives something free, there are catches to it, you have to join memberships, or there is shipping fees. Often a shipping fee cover the actual cost.
You are so vague I will not even guess at trying to give you a good answer.

tell us what type of product is being given away, what is the terms, and so on, for more help

Reply:
Well I can't exactly say but a good example was like the sites you could download music from I think they had to draw some lines regarding all of that. There are radio stations that have websites and you can hear the station over the web. But I sure as it is with Radio they have advertising to help pay for their broadcast. So then you have websites that have music I think like a radio station but not the same. Just think it is odd somebody can do that with out expecting any fee to provide that service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grencha

Reply:
Well I can't exactly say but a good example was like the sites you could download music from I think they had to draw some lines regarding all of that. There are radio stations that have websites and you can hear the station over the web. But I sure as it is with Radio they have advertising to help pay for their broadcast. So then you have websites that have music I think like a radio station but not the same. Just think it is odd somebody can do that with out expecting any fee to provide that service.

They provide the service free by having ads on their site. The more traffic they get, the more the advertising space is worth to advertisers. This is how the sites make money without charging. I don't see what this has to do with a law suit though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by odinn7

They provide the service free by having ads on their site. The more traffic they get, the more the advertising space is worth to advertisers. This is how the sites make money without charging. I don't see what this has to do with a law suit though.

The site I refer to which I have seen does not look like there is any such a thing but I guess I should double check to make sure. I guess that is right although if they are not making revenue from ads where do they get it from would be interesting. There are to many things that you could question why you get paying for something that you have know idea where the money goes.

Really, where the money goes is of no concern to you. If you want to know where the profit goes, start your own business.

Still don't understand what a free site has to do with a class action suit.

I guess you didn't read the explanation: "why you get paying for something that you have know idea where the money goes."

Yeah, yeah... now I get it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grencha

Reply:
No that is a different situation that probably only affected myself. I think I mentioned something about a website. Like how can a website survive that basically gives away something you would have to pay for? Secondly the people that abuse this gift like they are entitled to do so. I think something legally should be done to stop the people who abuse the gift that is available without any way to limit the use of the website.

This makes no sense at all. So you think that if a website offers something free, the people who take advantage of it should be sued? Or the website should be sued for giving gifts to people?

Civil law suits are filed when one party damages another party. Class action law suits are filed when one party with deep pockets (meaning they have lot of money - usually a major corporation) has damaged a lot of other parties; an attorney wishes to take it on and attempt to get it filed as a class action case; AND the court is willing to classify it as a class action.

Last I checked, giving gifts is not damaging to anyone, nor is taking a free product or service. What, am I going to sue someone because they mail me a free sample of shampoo, or I go to a community event and they offer me some give-away item to promote their business? Or are they supposed to sue me because I accept their free balloon or frisbee or whatever without buying something from them.