First. it was credit cards and their foreign transaction fee settlement. This time, it’s the De Beers diamond company accused of being a naughty monopoly and artificially raising diamond prices. They have reached a tentative settlement which you can learn all about at DiamondClassAction.com. For the consumer, they are proposing to split about $135 million (less fees) to the following eligible consumers:
All persons located in the United States who purchased any diamond or diamond jewelry or other products containing gem diamonds for personal use and not for resale between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006. For example, Consumers include people who purchased diamond jewelry to wear or to give as a gift.
Lawyers will get at least 1/3rd, so the pie is more like $80 million. The money will be pro-rated across all claimants, so the more approved claims that there are, the smaller the individual payments will be. In addition, if your share is less than $10.00, no check will be sent to you as a result of “prohibitive administrative costs”. Still, I filled out the form – they asked for name, address, e-mail, and basic jewelry info. Regarding proof:
If you did not buy a diamond or piece of diamond jewelry that cost over $10,000, you do not need to submit documentation at this time. Please remember to keep all documents showing your purchase, such as a receipt, invoice, insurance statement, appraisal, authenticity certificate, or other proof of purchase. You may need to send the documents to the Claims Administrator to prove your purchase at a later time.
I look forward to receiving my check for $15.61 in the year 2011. 😛 Thanks David for the tip.
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Thanks for the info on this. Maybe it will help cut into some of the debt it caused when I bought the rings!
> The money will be pro-rated across all claimants, so the more
> approved claims that there are, the smaller the individual payments
> will be.
Thanks for spreading the word. :p
“money will be pro-rated across all claimants, so the more approved claims that there are, the smaller the individual payments will be.”
Shhhhhhh!!! 🙂
OK, this is really small potatoes.
DeBeers sold 6.5B dollars of diamonds in 2006 alone! 135 million dollars = 2% of sales for one year!
Given that this suit covers 13 years, that’s less than 0.5% of their sales / year. Unless there are similar suits in other states/countries that’s a relatively small number for DeBeers.
This almost sounds like a bunch of lawyers got together and filed suit and then DeBeers gave in and started going through the motions. The suit is so small and covers such a huge time range that it’s actually a smart move by DeBeers. They’re now basically free from future price-fixing liabilities b/c they’ve already been charged.
So when do we get our money that is due us ????
i filled out my claim for in time, but i now have realized i put the purchasers name down wrong. my husband bought it for an anniversary present, but we are divorced now and i put my name and the other information on it. do you think i will get a check?
Guess what i finally got in the mail today – a check for $56 from this class action law suit. NICE!
sorry, it was $62.82 – here is proof: http://www.mylifehackblog.com/2013/06/11/diamond-class-action-success/
Thanks for passing this along back in 2008. Just received my check this week.
Still waiting on mine!