Class Action Roundup – Snuggie Refunds, New York Jets, PlayStation 3 Settlement and More

“As-Seen-On-TV” Snuggie Buyers Can Get a Piece of $7.2 Million FTC Refund

Here we are, in March 2018, with a news item pertaining to Snuggies. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that the comfy and conveniently sleeved blankets, which are among a collection of “as-seen-on-TV”-type products, were deceptively marketed as “buy one, get one free” by Allstar Marketing Group, LLC. According to a press release, the FTC will mail 218,254 refund checks totaling upward of $7.2 million to consumers who the agency says were deceived by Allstar Marketing’s “buy-one-get-one-free” pitch. Reportedly, the company’s promotion for Snuggies, the Magic Mesh Door, Roto Punch and the Perfect Tortilla, among other products, failed to mention all costs involved with such purchases.

“While the products varied, Allstar’s pitch often was the same—a ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ offer that did not disclose all the costs,” the FTC said, noting that its court order, in addition to the monetary penalty, prohibits Allstar Marketing from engaging in such allegedly illegal practices in the future. “Because the ordering process was confusing, some customers also were charged for more products than they wanted.”

Per the FTC’s press release, some consumers who bought products pitched by Allstar Marketing Group, LLC will receive payouts averaging $33.14, and should receive their checks sometime in the next month. (And, as far as ClassAction.org knows, consumers will get to keep their Snuggies and other bought-from-the-TV products. Whew.)

If You Own an Original PlayStation 3, You Might Have $65 Coming Your Way

A controversial decision from Sony eight years ago to take away the ability to install Linux on the original PlayStation 3 – and essentially turn the system into more than just a gaming console – has now cost the company $3.75 million. Reporting on the class action settlement, which was approved in December 2017, CNET’s Sean Hollister writes that consumers covered by the lawsuit can claim up to $65—so long as claims are submitted by April 15, 2018.

Hollister stresses the “OtherOS Settlement” covers “Fat” PlayStation 3 consoles (left in the image below) purchased between November 1, 2006 and April 1, 2010 from authorized retailers nationwide.

Importantly, CNET notes that claimants will need to provide their PS3’s serial number or PlayStation Network username and could be asked to divulge where the console was purchased.

Should consumers wish to dispute the fairness of the settlement, or wish to keep their right to file a lawsuit against Sony individually, instructions on how to do so can be found here.

CNET’s Sean Hollister has the background on how Sony’s removal of Linux support on the PS3 led to the settlement over at the publication’s website.

Claim forms can be found here.

New York Jets Hit with Class Action Case Over Decision to Nix MetLife Mezzanine Personal Seat Licenses

The New York Jets and Jets Stadium Development have been hit with a class action lawsuit filed in New Jersey Superior Court last week over the team’s decision to end its requirement that fans purchase personal seat licenses (PSLs) to buy season tickets in MetLife Stadium’s 200-level mezzanine section. NorthJersey.com’s Tom Nobile writes that the Jets’ call to end its PSL requirement, which had previously been the only way to get season tickets in MetLife’s 200-level seating area, has miffed those who paid thousands of dollars for PSLs in years past. (The initial purpose of PSLs, Nobile notes, was to help finance construction for MetLife back in 2010.)

“In essence, the actions of the Jets have offset the value of PSLs,” the plaintiff’s attorney told NorthJersey.com.

A more thorough explanation of the logic behind PSLs comes to us by way of Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino:

PSLs were instituted across much of the league when the new stadium boom took off around the dawn of this century. They allow teams to offset construction and financing costs by forcing fans into paying a fee just for the right to purchase their season tickets. The conceit for fans is that the licenses belong to them, so they can be sold for whatever price another person might be willing to pay.”

The consumer protection complaint decries the Jets reversal of its PSL policy as an “unconscionable commercial practice” that has torpedoed proposed class members’ costly PSLs, rendering them “entirely or substantially worthless.”

[Editor’s note: The individual behind this blog post is an aggrieved Jets fan and our sympathies are with him every football season.]

Class Action Alleges Toyota Hid from Consumers that Prius Software Fix Cut Fuel Efficiency

Toyota in 2014 issued a recall for roughly 800,000 Prius models sold between 2010 and 2014 that suffered from an alleged electrical system issue that caused some vehicles to overheat. As a fix, technicians installed updated code into affected cars’ inverters, which control voltage in a vehicle’s hybrid components. According to a new proposed class action case, however, that remedy has allegedly caused the hybrid vehicles’ fuel efficiency to dip more than five miles a gallon.

Forbes contributor Sebastian Blanco reports the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, claims Toyota “concealed from consumers that the software reflash decreased the fuel efficiency—defeating the purpose of owning these hybrid vehicles”—notwithstanding claims that the software fix didn’t actually fix the original overheating issue.

Pacific Fertility Facing Second Class Action Over Tank Malfunction that Destroyed Embryos

Last week we reported on a proposed class action filed against San Francisco-based Pacific Fertility and one other defendant over a cryo-storage tank failure that destroyed human tissue–namely embryos—after the unit “lost liquid nitrogen for a brief period of time.” Since then, Pacific Fertility has been named in a second proposed class action that seeks more than $5 million for those whose embryos were lost in the incident. Filed in California federal court, this newest lawsuit echoes the first in claiming the “nightmare scenario” stems from negligence in properly monitoring the failed tank’s liquid nitrogen levels. Unlike the first suit, the latest case names the plaintiffs, mentioning they were planning to transfer one of their eight embryos stored at Pacific Fertility next month, Mercury News writer Lisa M. Krieger reports, until they were told about the catastrophe via email.

Coupled with this story is the incident that occurred at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in Ohio, which Mercury News says faces at least two lawsuits itself filed by patients “who sought care after infertility due to cancer treatment.” Both tank failures somehow happened on the same day, March 4.