Lawyers sued German automaker VW charging that water could leak into the car from the sunroofs on some of its models. Ted Major is not enthralled with the resulting settlement:
For many class members (such as myself), the only benefit they will receive is a piece of paper to put into the owner’s manual that says “check your sunroof drains every 40,000 miles.” That’s it, no reimbursement, no inspection, no free drain cleaning, nothing.
Lawyers say that and other benefits to class members, including an $8 million repair fund, are worth $125 million and justify a fee of $30 million plus $1.5 million in expenses. A fairness hearing in federal court in New Jersey is scheduled for June 26.
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I’m part of that class. As I recall (I’d have to go look up the details), my benefit is a free inspection. Woo-hoo. As a result of the dedicated work of a team of crack lawyers, I have the right to take an hour out of my life to go have somebody do something that I can do myself in thirty seconds.
While I receive absolutely nothing of any benefit, neither do I deserve anything. And neither do the lawyers.
[…] From Overlawyered.com: My lawyer got $35.1 million…and all I got was this lousy piece of paper. […]
I got my notice a few weeks back. VW probably appreciates the opportunities created when customers bring their cars in for a free inspection. “We checked your sunroof, it’s fine. But we found these other problems…”
Todd-40,000 miles tends to be a major service interval for VW’s. In order to get the “inspection” you probably have to get the full “40,000 mile service” package. I made the mistake of getting it on my 07 Jetta. $625. (I mistakenly said “I am here for the 40k service.” instead of “I need the oil changed.”) All they are going to do to “inspect” it is open the sunroof and pour water into the tray. If the tray drains, it passes. If it doesn’t, probably another $50-$100 for them to snake a cable down the drain tubes. The lawyers get $30 million for this? Who do I mail my thank you letter to?
Around the web, June 4…
Manhattan Institute event, June 10: Former AG Mukasey introducing Hudson Institute’s Gabriel Schoenfeld on the press’s role in publishing leaks of sensitive national-security information. [MI] 17 out of 33 judges ruling on the question have stayed pr…
I am not part of the lawsuit either.
In 2007 I paid over $800.00 for them to clear the drains and remove and dry my carpet. ANd they damaged my car doing it.
I am getting that money back some hell or high water.
The Sunday Parade magazine usually has 1 or 2 class action lawsuit announcements. I sometimes find that I am eligible to get something. It usually has to do with supposedly overpaying for an item I bought. At the time I bought the item I thought the price was fine …or I wouldn’t have bought the item. Therefore I don’t participate in these suits.
$23 million for lawyers, $8 million for (some of) the class…
The Dewey v. Volkswagen settlement where attorneys are asking for over $23 million for recovering an $8 million reimbursement fund for a small subset of the class (but attributing tens of millions of dollars to a valuation of injunctive relief……
HELLO I SENT THE CORRECT PAPER WORK STATING THAT WE HAD TO HAVE TO HAVE THE SUNROON DRANED AND REPAIR .I HAD TO PAY ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE DOLLARS .BUT STILL HAVE NOT RECIEVED ANY MONEY BACK AS OF YET.