Netflix 'Throttling' Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Upheld

Reuters reports that the appeals court has upheld the settlement in the Netflix 'throttling' class action lawsuit:

In a ruling issued on Monday, the appellate court rejected the four subscribers' claims that attorneys fees awarded by the trial court were "excessive," the way that subscribers were notified of the terms was "deficient," and that the settlement should have consisted of a cash award rather than a free month of Netflix rentals.

The original lawsuit, filed in San Francisco state court by Netflix subscriber Frank Chavez, accused the Los Gatos, California-based company of delaying delivery of DVDs by mail to heavier users who are less profitable, a practice that came to be known as "throttling."

Netflix customers that applied for the settlement before the deadline will receive a free month or a service level upgrade (3-out to 4-out, for example). More information is available online at the Netflix Settlement website.

Thanks to Xin for sending this in.

Comments

[Greg Sargent]

Well I guess Netflix did not learn their lesson. I got severely throttled this week. My top two, Cloverfeld and Charlie Wilson's War, were not shipped, even though my previous DVD's arrived back to them on Monday. Even though these titles were available, they elected to ship me four titles from far away cities that were listed much further down in the queue. I am so mad about this I resigned with Blockbuster, and Cloverfeld and CWW are on their way to me. Maybe I should consider filing another class action since they seemed not to have learned from this lawsuit.

[Baff]

Greg, you could try but you wouldn't get anywhere.

The lawsuit was about Netflix throttling and denying it. Netflix is now clear about their throttling method, so there would be no grounds for you to sue them.

[Pappy]

Wow! They did the exact same thing to me, on the same movies. I'm in Michigan and my movies are coming from Colorado and Wisconsin this time around.

[shetaan819]

Has anyone that signed up for the settlement actually got their free month yet ? I signed up for it but never received an email indicating that I was going to get a free month....although I haven't actually checked my credit card, so perhaps I did get a free month....anyone know for sure that they got it ?

[Baff]

Shetann, nobody has gotten the "free month" yet (people who have closed their account will get 3-at-a-time for 1 month, people who are still subscribers will get a 1-at-a-time upgrade for 1 month). We would have gotten the free/upgrade month about a year and a half ago, except that a few people decided to appeal the settlement, so it has been locked up in court for all this time. Everyone who signed up 2 years ago should be getting their "free month" some time in the next 6 months.

[Greg Sargent]

I was really being sarcastic about filing another lawsuit against them, but it still makes me very mad that I was not shipped my top two choices when they were available. I am from Oklahoma City and I am on the 8-out plan. But only a couple of the titles they are sending me are from the local distribution center as most of my titles are. I am getting titles sent to me from New Jersey, California, South Carolina, and was just notified that one is coming from Florida. I usually ship back on Fridays to arrive on Monday, they ship on Monday or Tuesday to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday. But with what they are doing to me this week really messes up my schedule! Some of these titles won't even get here until Friday! And I only have 2 new titles on the list for next week unless by some miracle Cloverfeld (oops, I forget, Blockbuster as already sent it to me) or Charlie Wilson's War becomes available. But with the way they have sent them out to me, I don't think I will have even two to send back on Friday!

[Scribe1964]

Greg,
Maybe there was some mishap at your local DC. I'm also on the 8 out plan and I received every new title on my list (5 in total, including "Charle Wilson"). "Clover Field" wasn't on my list, as I saw it in the movies.

[jimofoz]

I think the only group that comes out ahead in most of these class action law suits is the law firm. The "class" usually gets some miniscule reward and the accused ends up raising prices someplace else to pay off the suit and make up the money they were making from the action in the first place.

[Im Not A Turnip]

Greg - Something strange may have happened in the OKC center early this week. I always mail on Mon and items are received and shipped out on Tues. This week everything was received/shipped on Wed.

By the way, I don't know how soon it will be before the new USPS center is operational, but it should happen in the next few months. Seven processing & distribution centers around the metro will be closed and consolidated into the new facility. I expect to see some inconsistency in service in the near future while the bugs are worked out.