[OP]
Member
I received a post card in the mail something about a class action lawsuit against Bosch tools saying some tools were made in the USA but were not. I only own a Bosch Jig saw so that may be the tool affected.
I lost the card I received in the mail. Anyone have any info on this? Any truth to this story?
Member
I threw mine away that I got.
Chuck
Member
I looked at it and it went right in the trash.
I think things like that are just a waste of time and a lot of money.
I can understand one that is for something that has really hurt a lot of people but this one hurt no one.
[OP]
Member
I got it some time ago. Just happend to think of it tonight. Was no big deal to me.Originally Posted by Bill Huber
Member
Hoping this doesn't violate TOS, but here is a link that talks about it: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com...osch-tool.html
Bottom line is you get a 10$ coupon good for one year. Now I have about 4 or 5 bosch tools and I never got anything in the mail. Guess I will have to send the registration cards in from now on...
Member
As with so many of these large “class action” lawsuits only the people making the money are the lawyers who “handled” the lawsuit! I seem to remember another class action suit where as the public who were made whole received about $.25 and the lawyers made millions!
Jim
Member
Throw it away and go build something.
Vietnam Vet With No Apologies
Member
We're a litigeous society, aren't we?
Maurice
In Memoriam
I have several Bosch tools. I have never had a problem with any of them. They just keep going and going. I am still amazed at the Bosch jig saw. Who cares where they are built.
I wouldn't jump in if I got a card.
Quinn
Member
Now that this is a settled suit, wouldn't the lawyers make out further by people NOT applying for their "share" of the settlement? If not, who gets money not distributed? The link above says "Any unpaid residual will be used to further the purposes of the underlying causes of action as set forth in the detailed notice and approved by the court." That sounds like lawyer talk to me for the lawyers get it?
Guest
You can opt out of a class. That's what the notice is for. It provides you notice of the class and opportunity to opt out.
Do nothing and you are part of the class and once the matter is settled your ability to sue on your own is severely restricted if not closed entirely because of the doctrine of claim preclusion.
Class actions are a great thing~!!!
Liken class actions to the police. Police do their jobs correctly as well as incorrectly. And it's a job that most everyone agrees needs to be done. Which is why we put up with it when they do it wrongly.
The goal of class actions is to set the stage to expose corporate wrong doers to punishment who have harmed an unmanageably large group of people and to provide some measure of justice for society by causing the offender corporation to pay substantial sums in damages and suit costs and fees.
The experts in the litigation chew through tons of the money, so to the lawyers and the process of discovery is usually very costly. This tends to leave the actual persons harmed with little or nothing.
However, the goal isn't to enrich the actual class members it is too punish the bad actor.
This is analogous to the criminal justice system. Commit a crime like driving 100 MPH on the highway and you pay fines and suffer other penalties. You do not however, have to give money to everyone whose lives you put at risk.
If you want to become enriched as a result of a tort suit you opt out of the class and sue independently.
Member
I have several Bosch tools and really like them. I am also against many of the law suits filled in this country. However, if Bosch's marketing department is listing tools not made in the USA as tools made in the USA they do deserve a penality large enough to assure that they do not do it again. It also serves as a warning to other companies.
As a side note, I had one of the CH compressors that was involved in a class action law suit many years ago. Not being in favor of these types of legal actions I just threw my notice away. Now after seeing that CH still operates just at the limit of the law with their deceptive advertising I have wished many times that I had at least added my name to the list, not for personal gain but to just show support against CH.
Last edited by Allen Bookout; 08-29-2007 at 10:20 AM.
Contributor
Class actions have their place but can be abused (like most things). There was a case recently where one of the cell phone companies were including in their "customer agreement" -which you sign to get service - that the customer was prohibited from participating in a class action lawsuit. But then the cell phone company was "cheating" each customer by a few dollars each billing period. The amount was small enough that it would cost an individual customer much more to bring a lawsuit than the amount in dispute.
For the cell phone company, those extra charges added up to a sizeable sum but the people who were charged those sums were prohibited from joining together to fight the charges.
The users brought an action to have the prohibition against class actions set aside and a judge agreed with them. So now the cell phone company will have to defend itself against the class.
That's an example of where class actions are valid and justified.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Member
[QUOTE=Cliff Rohrabacher;649427]
Class actions are a great thing~!!!
Liken class actions to the police. Police do their jobs correctly as well as incorrectly. And it's a job that most everyone agrees needs to be done. Which is why we put up with it when they do it wrongly.
The goal of class actions is to set the stage to expose corporate wrong doers to punishment who have harmed an unmanageably large group of people and to provide some measure of justice for society by causing the offender corporation to pay substantial sums in damages and suit costs and fees.
The experts in the litigation chew through tons of the money, so to the lawyers and the process of discovery is usually very costly. This tends to leave the actual persons harmed with little or nothing. QUOTE]
Cliff, I agree with you conceptually, but in the real world, class actions are terribly abused and represent a significant drain on our economy. For every class action case with a lauditory social purpose (remember the Ford Pinto and Thalidimide cases) there must be 100 or more cases that have only the barest basis in law or fact. These lawsuits are the brain children or smart enerjetic lawyers who make mega bucks on the litigation.
The Bosch case is a good example. Why sue Robert Bosch Corp. for a $10 certificate on behalf of a bunch of people who aren't unhappy with their products in the first place? Sure, maybe Bosch should be prohibited from advertising "Made in the USA" if their products are not, but a single plaintiff could accomplish that through an injunction in a much smaller lawsuit. The reason, of course, is that the lawyers will make much more money prosecuting and defending a class action lawsuit with thousands of potential class members than they would make in a single plaintiff suit. Meanwhile, the lawsuit will cost Bosch (or any other class action defendant) mega bucks to defend and will clog up the court system for several years.
I'm a lawyer, a partner in a large national law firm, and I have defended class action lawsuits. I have seen a sea change in the last 15-20 years in the way lawyers go after business. The shift has been away from single plaintiff lawsuits to multi-plaintiff actions because that's where the big bucks are. Law firms want to be recognized as experienced class action litigators, so an increasing part of their business development budget is spent on raising their profiles as "class action litigators." Plaintiff firms are trolling for the next "cause" and defense firms are trolling for the next class action client.
The result of all of this is noticeable. There are fewer single-plaintiff lawsuits brought today by large lawfirms than 20 years ago. The big litigation powerhouses are are spending more and more of their resources on multi plaintiff litigation. I question whether the average Joe is well served by our judicial system these days in light of this trend. I have no doubt that our economy is not well served by it. You see the effects on the bottom line cost of the goods and services you buy every day.
I have no quarrel with socially conscious litigation as long as it is directed at legitimate social evils. I have no quarrel with class action lawsuits that are directed at real injuries to large numbers of people. I quarrel with lawyers who bring class action lawsuits (or any lawsuit for that matter) for selfish reasons where there is little if any social justification for them. Unfortunaltely there is a lot of that going around these days.
I'll get off my soap box now.
Hank
Last edited by Hank Knight; 08-29-2007 at 4:39 PM.
Member
I got the notice in the mail also but, when I checked the claim form, none of it applied to me. Here's the link to the form: http://www.rbtcsettlement.com/pdf/rbtc1poc.pdf
The deadline to file was July 20, 2007.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Bill Arnold
NRA Life Member
Member of Mensa
Live every day like it's your last, but don't forget to stop and smell the roses.
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