http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/business/16770174.htm

Questions about CarFax reports are gaining renewed scrutiny as a result of a nationwide class-action lawsuit that charged the reports were not as complete as the Virginia-based company has led its customers to believe.

CarFax last month reached a settlement of the lawsuit. Under the settlement terms, millions who purchased a CarFax vehicle history report prior to Oct. 27, 2006, are eligible.

Those interested must file a claim form, available at www.westcarsettlement.com, by May 27.

Instead of receiving cash from CarFax, consumers who file claims will get free or discounted CarFax reports — the same documents that the consumers’ attorneys said were incomplete. The other option is a 20 percent discount on an inspection, expected to run about $100, of any vehicle that buyers researched using CarFax.

If consumers don’t opt out of the settlement in writing by March 13, they lose their right to sue CarFax if they are injured due to defects in a previously damaged car that a CarFax report claimed was clean.

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'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

In any information providing service business, they always build cost of litigation into the business plan--I mean with as much fraud as the owners of the cars commit on covering up accidents, ect.....carfax can't magically find out all the info. I haven't read the terms of the settlement, but at least they are owning up--I still think it is a good service.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/01/18/carfax-agrees-to-settlement-in-class-action-lawsuit/

"NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

West v. Carfax, Inc., No. 04-CV-1898
Court of Common Pleas, Trumbull County, Ohio
161 High Street, NW, Warren, Ohio 44481-1006

WHAT IS THIS CASE ABOUT?
Plaintiff claims that Carfax violated the consumer protection laws of all fifty states by not properly disclosing terms and conditions for, and limitations of, Carfax Vehicle History Reports. Carfax denies all of Plaintiff's claims of wrongdoing."

After getting hit with a class action they agreed to settle -this is known as "making it go away". They deny wrongdoing, however. Only with a stratospheric stretch of the imagination could this be considered as "at least they are owning up".

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'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

class action suits are the biggest waste of time and money at least for the plaintiffs.an example is the chevy pickup gas tank fiasco.i had 2 pickups involved and what did i get vouchers for 1000 off the price of a new pickup.now if i would have been able to afford a new truck they wouldn't have been sending me those stupid vouchers as i would have had a new truck!so basically i got NOTHING,lawyers got 10's of millions.and look just what these people are gonna get a one month subscription. whooopee!

Uh, google "compromise settlement of doubtful claim" and it should shed some light on how settlements in the context of a lawsuit work. It would be a stratospheric stretch to think that carfax would agree to pay out damages AND admit liability.

I get class action lawsuit forms in the mail all the time. I generally throw them away, because there's usually nothing in the settlement for the claimants. If they offered me the same currency the lawyers get, I'd feel different.

I wonder how many lawyers would work for discount vouchers and other worthless crap like that. Sorry, JD, no offense intended to you or any of the other lawyers here. I don't know of any forum participants who practice this type of law anyhow.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs definition of "own up":
"to admit that you have done something wrong"

Of course carfax can not ever admit liability because it would eviscerate their business plan which is predicated upon the info they sell being considered reliable to their customers.

The above posts taking a dim view on the value of class action suits to the plaintiffs are spot on. What delicious insult added to injury to receive a coupon for a product whose shoddiness your complaint was initially based on. If you as plaintiff accept the offer you give the offending company tacit approval of their product. They can in effect say: "hey look, our oh so aggrieved customer really can't be all that dissatisfied; she's happy to use our product again". So the company seems to end up having the last word. But who really takes the cake?:

Plaintiffs in class action suits are indeed often mere cannon fodder for the billing orgies staged by counsel.



The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

"take the cake"

To be the most outstanding; sometimes used in a derogatory sense: “When it comes to eating like a pig, Gordy really takes the cake.”

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'83 SD, 2x '85 SD
You are entitled to your own opinions, you are not entitled to your own facts.

I think your eligible.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Oh boy! Maybe I'll get a valuable coupon for something I don't want in the first place. Yaaaa! I wonder if I could trade that for some of what the lawyers got? Hmmmm? You know, MONEY!

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

just sayin....don't get your boxers in a bunch boy.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Who you callin' "Boy!?"

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Oh, BTW, it's you're not your.

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Three guess and the first two don't count.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

I missed this when it was posted.