Class action lawsuit settlement for cardholders of Visa-, MasterCard-, or Diners Club-branded cards.

[randomness]

If you held one of these cards and were charged to make transctions in a foreign currency or with a foreign merchant between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006, you may file a claim.

Full information on this case and the settlement can be found at http://www.ccfsettlement.com.

You may have received a pre-printed form in the mail. If you have not, you can go to this website: https://www.ccfsettlement.com/claim/?action=choose which will provide you with three options, an Easy Refund, a Total Estimation Refund, or an Annual Estimated refund.

The deadline for filing a claim, which had been in early January 2008, has now been extended to May 30, 2008. The deadline for opting out of the settlement damages class or objecting to the settlement has been extended to February 14, 2008.

Comments

[missmoreland.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll look into this!

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

This is only for credit cards, not debit cards, right?

[quezz.livejournal.com]

ANY foreign currency?!?! That's like, half my transactions in that time period!!!!

[tla]

Huh. I was charged in November 2007 most recently (by MasterCard in the States). If this has been the subject of a class action lawsuit, why are they still doing it?

[irielle.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the information. I never did get any information in the mail about this.

[(Anonymous)]

I believe (based on about ten seconds of reading, so take this with a big old hunk of salt) that the class action was with regard to insufficiently disclosed fees. So they may have increased their disclosure but continued to charge the fees.

--Adam

From http://www.ccfsettlement.com/faqs/#idQ19:

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

"Any person who held a Visa-, MasterCard- or Diners Club-branded credit, charge or debit/ATM card issued in the United States as of November 8, 2006 is a member of the Settlement Injunctive Class. Those persons who made a foreign transaction using a Visa-, MasterCard-, or Diners Club- branded credit, charge or debit/ATM card between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006 are members of the Settlement Damages Class."

So, no. This includes debit cards.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I didn't get any information in the mail myself, and I thought it would be useful to post.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I believe Adam is right.

Re: From http://www.ccfsettlement.com/faqs/#idQ19:

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks! I've sent them a comment thingy about how they refuse to accept my account number, and maybe there'll be a magic check in my future.

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

Huh. That period definitely covers when I went to Singapore, never mind the times I've bought things online from overseas vendors. But I have no idea where to get documentation, as I closed my old bank accounts when I got married and opened new ones with new name. I don't think I even *owned* a card that wasn't debit until then ... but the applicable charges would've been on the bank debit cards. Do you think the bank would give me that old info if I went in person?

From http://www.ccfsettlement.com/faqs/#idQ1:

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

"First a reminder: Pursuant to the Revised Plan of Administration and Distribution, paragraph 5(f), Exhibit H, to the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement, the Bank Defendants shall provide, free of charge, your monthly billing statements, if retrievable electronically, to any Settlement Damages Class Member who request these statements to substantiate his or her claim form. If you are a customer of Household/HSBC or Providian/Washington Mutual, you should contact the Settlement Administrator for your electronically retrievable transaction records.

If you decide to file for Refund Option 3 you need to list the amount of foreign transactions by year. If your records remain incomplete and you are unable to obtain them from your bank, you may calculate yearly foreign transactions using estimates. You should calculate these estimates based on reasonable daily or monthly spending, documented, where possible, by a travel journal or some other proof of your travel or your living arrangements outside of the United States. Although you do not need to submit any documentation with your claim form, you should retain the supporting materials, along with a written explanation of the methodology used to determine the estimates listed on your claim form, in case your claim is designated for audit by the Settlement Administrator."

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I read somewhere else that the banks have to give you six months of records, but I can't find where I read that right now.

However, you can always file an estimate.

Re: From http://www.ccfsettlement.com/faqs/#idQ1:

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

No, I'm being unclear. I'm saying I don't know what the card number was, because I closed the bank account linked to that debit card *years ago*. So I can't figure out how to get that card number, given how long ago it was. And they require having the card number (or a relevant card number) to file. I have no cards that go back that long, I don't think.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Having large-ish amounts of time outside of the US in that 10 year period would seem to make Option 2 far easier than Option 3 and likely to be worth more than $25 (Option 1.)

(<lj user=zubatac has used his credit card outside the US, *and* lived outside the US for 9 months in that time window. Didn't spend much money in the military, but if they estimate using *their* algorithm....)

Re: From http://www.ccfsettlement.com/faqs/#idQ1:

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

Card number or account number? It _says_ account number (which should be easier to find), but then again they're not accepting mine for unknown reasons.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I'll have to look into this. I knew there was a reason to have 10+ years of bank statements still hanging around...

Re: From http://www.ccfsettlement.com/faqs/#idQ1:

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I'm not sure what you do in that case, other than ask your bank if they can supply you with the information.

[76trombones.livejournal.com]

I'm also wondering about their algorithm, and I'm a bit perplexed by their recommendations.

They say option #1 is recommended if you traveled outside the US for less than one week or had foreign transactions of less than $2500. They say option #2 is recommended if you traveled outside the US for more than one week or had foreign transactions of more than $2500.

It would appear, then, that options #1 and #2 are both recommended for a person who traveled outside the US for 8 days and spent $2000! (Example numbers, not mine.)

I'll probably fill out the option #2 form. It says that the refund will be based on the responses and "available information that can be accessed by a computer" -- the latter of which seems like it would include my entire transaction history. Still, I doubt it'll hurt.

[jannelleefo.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6M_6qOz-yw