Debeers lawsuit and price fixing...

[lauralu]

Okay so I just heard on my local news cast that DeBeers is settling a price fixing lawsuit.

They said if you have purchased a Gem, Diamond or Diamond jewelry between Jan 1st of 1994 and March 31st of 2006 you may be entitled to a portion of the settlement money.You can go to diamondclassaction.com to download a claim form or check to see if your eligible or to file online. They have to pay out 295 million dollars. May 9th is the deadline to file.

That is all I know. If does not affect me, but I thought I would share it in case it effects anyone else.

 

[ChattyCat]

My sis told me about this last night. I went and filed online. I think the maximum any individual can receive is $640 (still decent). You don''t have to provide documentation (as a consumer) unless you had an individual piece that cost more than $10K. You also have to be a US resident. We''ll see what happens. More money in my pocket, is more money in my pocket. Although, I''m really not sure how this is supposed to prevent DeBeers from controlling the world diamond market.

 

[hungrygal]

thanks for the info! i heard a snipit of this on cnbc news last night.

 

[DiamanteBlu]

FYI - Here is the thread I started with the details. Not too many people noticed it. Notice of Class Action Settlement

 

[DiamanteBlu]

Date: 1/11/2008 8:46:58 AM
Author: ChattyCat
I think the maximum any individual can receive is $640 (still decent). You don''t have to provide documentation (as a consumer) unless you had an individual piece that cost more than $10K.

I think somebody misread what the notice and forms said. There is no such limit.

Your payout is a function of the purchase price of your piece or stone, and the recognized claim percentage associated with it. Your payout will be scaled proportionally once all claims have been filed [so they know who needs to be paid]. If you go to http://diamondsclassaction.com and look in the Appendix B of the actial notice that was sent out you will find a table from which you can calculate your maximum payout. For the consumer subclass the net amount that will be paid out is $135,432,500+interest-taxes, expenses, fees and incentive awards - whatever that means. If your payout calculates out to $10 or less you won''t get paid.

The $640 came from the example they gave which was for a $2,000 engagement ring. It qualifies for a Recognized Claim Percentage of 32% which, when you do the arithmetic, gives you your Recognized Claim Amount is $640, which is the maximum payment that you could receive.

Also, there is no requirement to provide documentation when you file your claim as a consumer no matter what the purchase price of the piece or stone was.

Hope this helps.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 1/11/2008 8:46:58 AM
Author: ChattyCat
My sis told me about this last night. I went and filed online. I think the maximum any individual can receive is $640 (still decent). You don''t have to provide documentation (as a consumer) unless you had an individual piece that cost more than $10K. You also have to be a US resident. We''ll see what happens. More money in my pocket, is more money in my pocket. Although, I''m really not sure how this is supposed to prevent DeBeers from controlling the world diamond market.

There is no limit. After reading about the suit, I did a google search and found another Debeers suit where the max was $75,000 per person!!!

As mentioned, the amount you''ll get depends upon the amount you spent!

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 1/11/2008 8:46:58 AM
Author: ChattyCat
My sis told me about this last night. I went and filed online. I think the maximum any individual can receive is $640 (still decent). You don''t have to provide documentation (as a consumer) unless you had an individual piece that cost more than $10K. You also have to be a US resident. We''ll see what happens. More money in my pocket, is more money in my pocket. Although, I''m really not sure how this is supposed to prevent DeBeers from controlling the world diamond market.

The only ones that are making any money to speak of on this are the attorneys who have been sending out forms to jewelers for many months to file the paperwork for only 40 or 50% of the settlement.

There are dealers who sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of diamonds, they will be getting the lion''s share of this settlement, smaller dealers like myself will be getting less than $100 if we bother to fill out the paper work. (I will NOT be signing up with any of the ambulance chasers that keep calling me.) I suspect the average consumer might get five dollars or less, but I don''t have any real knowledge of what they might receive, but unless they have suddenly decided to take the lion''s share away from the dealers, there will not be much available for the little guy if the dollars are allocated based on the amount spent.

Just my take, I have been wrong before...

Wink