So around July 2009, I received an email from a seemingly scam like address stating that I was identified as a potential eligible person to join the class action lawsuit against ETRADE Financial Corporation that was pending at the LA County Superior Court. I guess ETRADE was found to sometimes have recorded phone conversations without informing the customers at the very beginning of the phone call. We all know those annoying messages we hear when we make a call to banks or brokerages... "this call may be monitored or recorded for training purposes" blah blah blah.
The site stated that if you reside in California (among a few other states), and received a phone call from ETRADE between some time in 2003 and 2009 then you can join the class action lawsuit. Well I know for sure I opened my account during that time frame, and definitely received a phone call from them confirming some account security information (I opened my account online). But of course I can't remember if they informed me whether they were recording the conversation or not. So I figured I'd just sign up and probably nothing will ever come out of it. I made my boyfriend do it too because he also had an ETRADE account.
Well, I came home today and surprise surprise! A class action settlement check arrived in the mail for $620! My boyfriend got one too thanks to me so he can buy me some presents. Sweet!!! We totally forgot about all of this! I then went online to read about it, and apparently they settled for $7,500,000. Wow! I can't believe it. I wonder how the representative plaintiff even found out that they were recording conversations without notice in the first place??? Maybe they worked for ETRADE? Well, that person scored $80,000 from this. Omg. I shoulda had this idea too! From now on I will be paying CLOSE attention to all those messages regarding my privacy! Hehehe
Hmmm... what will I do with my new found wealth?? I can think of so many ways...
That is so great! Good for you guys!
ReplyDeleteI just came across your blog today and I LOVE IT. Being a nerd, I went through most of your archives and read back because I love how you write and I can relate to pretty much everything you are writing about (food, fashion, working out, lulu, etc.) Just thought I would let you know! Keep up the AWESOME work! ;)
That's so sweet Melissa! Thank you! I'm glad that you find it entertaining... I started this out as a fun little project and didn't think that anyone would actually read it. A lot of times I feel like I'm just talking to myself. Haha... but I LOVE finding people with similar interests so don't be a stranger!
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow Californian, I also received $628.65. Score!
ReplyDeleteNo presents or toys for me. It's all going toward bills. Can't complain, though ...
Only people in CA got 620. Everyone else got 1/5 of the CA settlement amount - $125
ReplyDeleteYou could use the $125 to buy a bus ticket to California ...
ReplyDeleteHmm paying bills is not a bad idea! That never occurred to me... lol...
ReplyDelete$125 is not bad either. It is always great to receive free money!
Nothing is free. Consumers end up paying for these settlements one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI got a check for $628.65 as well - pulled all my stock / funds etc from Etrade last year as they gave bad advice anyway costing me big $$$$ so this little check goes someway to addressing the balance. No more Etrade for me.
ReplyDeleteGreat surprise today..got my $628....didn't think it would be that much!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I closed my Etrade account a while ago as well. So any fee increase they may or may not do will not affect me - it is free money for me! =P
ReplyDeleteGlad so many of you got it as well!
I filled this out last year too! Honestly forgot all about it. Well to my surprise I got a check in the mail today for $628!! Yes! OMG I was so surprises!
ReplyDeleteI also received a check for $628.65. I hadn't forgotten about this case. But, I didn't expect that the check would be for that much. I guess that it does pay to fill in class action claims.
ReplyDeleteI got the check in the mail this week too. I remembered the case when I saw that the mailing looked like a check. I opened it, expecting around $20...and saw that it was for $628...holy shnikes!! that made my day :)
ReplyDeleteWhile I suppose I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth (where did that expression come from?), I would have preferred they had only sent us Californian's $599, in which case they wouldn't be reporting it to the IRS. I wonder if I can offset it against all my E-Trade losses?
ReplyDelete$628.65 it is. To think I almost threw the claim in the trash, most class action lawsuits are not worth the effort. I decided, well, could be $20 or $30, so why not. I had forgotten about this lawsuit, so what a surprise!!!
ReplyDelete