Premise

You’ve all had them – that annoying, pesky robocall, offering a free timeshare, or survey for your thoughts, or in this case, a free cruise! A class action lawsuit against Big Cruise, including Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean, argues that these players violated the Telephone Consumer Protection act by spamming unsuspecting Americans with robocalls. These robocalls, through a company called Resort Marketing Group, require previous consent from consumers to receive.

 

a gavel on a block

Hammer time.

Robocall: What happened?

As a result, the companies have settled, with a preliminary settlement fund of $7 to $12.5 million. This will be doled out to consumers, $300 per call, up to three calls, if their claims are valid. That’s $900 maximum, which at the high point of $12.5 million, is a hair under 14,000 customers. If the number of claims grows, I can see the settlement amount going up, or getting cut per person. I suppose it is up to the judge/lawyers and how they feel.

 

Free Money Details

You can check here on the settlement website, to see if you’re eligible. Both online and mail-in claims are valid, but why waste your time mailing anything in?

I checked for myself – no dice – but my lady qualified so I will track her status. There are some caveats, with final legal approvals being held April of 2018, but hey, the chance for free money? Why not? You should save any confirmation emails or pages for your records, and make a note, mental or otherwise, to check on it at a later time.

 

a briefcase full of money

So maybe not all this, but a few hundred can’t hurt!

Conclusion

This was a very interesting situation, and a nice reminder of how government consumer protections and regulation do occasionally come in handy. Granted, it’s not a lot, but if you place yourself on a do not call list, companies should not be able to break the law with a robocall, and get off scot-free.

Now, if there was a way to blacklist telemarketers in one fell swoop, that would be good. I get maybe a half-dozen per year and it annoys me every time. It’s not enough to block their number – I want financial penalties, like this guy.

 

Beautiful.

 

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