TJX consumer settlement sale offer draws scorn Law enforcement officials have poured cold water on plans by TJX to hold a one-day sale for customers as part of a proposed settlement for a consumer class-action case against the security incident-afflicted retailer. TJX faces consumer and bank class action lawsuits over the exposure of an estimated 45.7m customer records as …
The only morally proper settlement of the consumer class-action suit against TJX would call for the liquidation of all assets now held by TJX - and possibly the liquidation of the management who "oversaw" the network which was so poorly secured that it could be penetrated by script-kiddies, without detection for over three years.
Clearly, TJX is managed by MBAs.
I think you'll find that it's quite common for a company to provide "compensation" by allowing you to give them more money. For example, when Verizon Wireless was overcharging people (for text messaging, I think it was), the settlement notice gave me a few options:
1. Get a $15 credit if I signed another 1-year contract (which, at my $75/mn plan, meant I got $15 compensation if I agreed to pay them another $900).
2. Get a $30 credit if I signed another 2-year contract (which, at my $75/mn plan, meant I got $30 compensation if I agreed to pay them another $1,800).
3. A $3 credit per month for 7 months (or until I change my service in any way, whichever is sooner). This one means that I would have had to keep paying my $75 monthly charge in order to get a $3 credit. If I dropped to a lower plan, or upgraded to a higher plan, or made any other changes, the credits would end immediately
4. A discount (I forget the amount, somewhere between $15 and $30) off accessories such as a hands-free kit or a charger.
None of the "settlement" options would compensate me without forcing me to pay Verizon Wireless even more. The US DOJ vs Microsoft was much of the same, from what I've heard -- the "settlement" was that you got coupons for discounts on Microsoft products, so to claim your compensation you had to pay even more to the company that harmed you.
Class-action lawsuits are a joke. In the end, if the companies lose any money at all, it's only because of their attorneys' fees.
I shop at TK Maxx all the time so immediately phoned the helpline number in The Register's first article about this. They didn't seem too concerned and just told me to watch out if there were any dodgy transactions on my card. Sure enough about six weeks later I got a bill for all sorts of stuff I hadn't bought. Phoned TK Maxx again and got put through to America this time - the lady told me yes she thought it was them. I wasn't actually out of pocket because Visa refunded me but it was a hell of lot of work and TK Maxx are welcome to send me some free socks or whatever to take the pain away.
"so what did you do about your 'compensation'? chalk it down to experience and forget it?"
Exactly. I really had no right to compensation anyway, since I don't use text-messaging. Though I do wish you could turn it off so you don't have to pay for unwanted incoming messages. I don't use my mobile phone much anymore, so I had already decided to downgrade my plan to the $45/mn plan, so the $15 and $30 credits wouldn't be available. And there's no way in hell I was going to give them more money if I could help it. So I downgraded my plan, kept my phone (which seems to be a unique experience when changing plans nowadays), and just disregarded the settlement.
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