Concerned about e-book emails? Don’t be—refunds are real!
Friday, April 18, 2014
This week, consumers who previously purchased e-books (electronic books) from certain retailers have been receiving notifications that they are eligible for refunds, based on how many e-books they bought. While many consumers view unexpected emails of this nature with great suspicion, these are legitimate. They are related to a $166 million antitrust settlement over allegations of conspiracy to fix and raise retail prices of e-books.
Consumers may be eligible for partial refunds if they purchased e-books between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012 that were published by the following companies:
- Hachette Book Group, Inc. (“Hachette”);
- HarperCollins Publishers LLC (“HarperCollins”);
- Simon & Schuster, Inc. and Simon & Schuster Digital Sales, Inc. (“Simon & Schuster”);
- Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, known as Macmillan (“Macmillan”); and
- Penguin Group (USA) Inc. (“Penguin”).
If you received a refund, be aware there is a deadline for using the refunds. Credits that are not used and checks that are not cashed by April 1, 2015 will become void.
Consumer Action has just launched a free online Class Action Database. The free service keeps consumers apprised of notable cases and settlements. We maintain this listing of class actions so that interested consumers can learn about new cases, join a pending action or make a claim.
Consumer Action empowers low- and moderate-income and limited-English-speaking consumers nationwide to financially prosper through education and advocacy.
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