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THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR ANYONE... USING DEBIT ....CREDIT CARDS.. OUT OF THE COUNTRY....

Hello everyone... a friend of mine.. just got a settlement letter notice in regards to this class action suit.. that just settled for 336 million dollars.. and 36 million in attorney fees to the defendents...... IF YOU HAVE USED A VISA... MC....OR DINERS CLUB... OUTSIDE OF THE USA.. BETWEEN 1996.. AND 2006.... THE CLASS ACTION SUIT IS REWARDING.. BACK BETWEEN 1-3% of any transactions you made ON A DEBIT- CREDIT CARD.... here is the website to check it OUT....it looks like there was an INTENCIONAL ERROR in calculating the exchange rate..it appears they and charged an extra 1-3%.and then concealed it. HUH??

www.ccfsettlement.com

There are 3 ways to submit your form... as for me... I was living in Colombia en 2000-2002 therefore have substancial amount of ATM transactions.. WHICH ARE INCLUDED.... it looks like the card.. must be issued... FROM THE USA...
AND THE CLAIM IS FOR...TRANSACTIONS THAT ARE MADE OUTSIDE OF THE USA....
GOOD LUCK AND MERRY CHRISTMAS....

By gringokid on Dec 7, 2007, 17:45 in Friendly Talkzone.

travelingirl says on Dec 7, 2007, 17:52:

That's so weird you mentioned this b/c just yesterday I got something in the mail regarding this. At first I thought it was junk mail, but when I opened it, it looked legit. I haven't read through it yet as it is still sitting on my kitchen counter, but now I will after reading this. I seem to remember there were various ways one could claim their money but there was a box to check if you wanted to just automatically get $25 back without showing any receipts or anything. There's no way I have any of my receipts from foreign travels that long ago.

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gringokid says on Dec 7, 2007, 17:59:

if you read your letter closer... there are 3 ways to file a claim....
1. if you were only outside of the usa a little..YES.. A SIMPLE $25 check.

2. you file the number of days you were outside of the USA.. and then they estimate the amount you spent by calculating what an average tourist spends per day.. then you receive back between 1-3 % of that amount back.

3. is for the people like us.. who lived outside of the usa... substantial...you fill in the form.. showing an estimated dollar amount you made for each year outside of the usa for each year between 1996 and 2006.... NO PROOF IS NECESSARY.. but claims can be audited..

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travelingirl says on Dec 7, 2007, 18:04:

Ok, I just looked at my letter again. I might do option number 2 (after doing some further research and finding out if this really is for-real) as I travelled outside of the USA quite a bit but never lived elsewhere. Refund Option 1 & 2 don't ask for any account numbers although option 3 does. I wish there was a phone number on here (and not just the website and mailing address). Maybe I should check out the website now. Thanks for mentioning this on here. If you hadn't, my form would have probably been tossed in the trash at some point in time. At least now I'll look at it more closely.

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travelingirl says on Dec 7, 2007, 18:20:

Looks like the attorneys are going to make a killing off of this (27.5% of $313 million, plus up to 5 million in expenses)-- that is, if the approval hearing goes as planned and the settlement is actually approved. I really hope I'm not falling prey to a gimmick. haha I suppose even if it is real, I might not get much money if tons of people are going to sign up b/c they'll be distributing the wealth according to the amount of people that choose to take the refund. I should check out an urban legend website. ;)

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gringokid says on Dec 7, 2007, 18:27:

YEAH.. I THOUGHT the same thing.. NOT TO TELL ANYONE... but then I thought.. hey you guys are my COLOMBIA FRIENDS... and I have had some experience in class actions suits... theere usually is plenty of money... for example.. I received a class action settlement check of $236 for a toshiba laptop i bought.. there have been also several other class actions suits against credit card banks.. that have just credited back my credit card.. a certain amount.

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travelingirl says on Dec 7, 2007, 18:31:

Cool. I've never been involved with a class action suit so we'll see what happens. Hmmm, I wonder how we'd get our money on this one? I'm sure that I have canceled at least one of the credit cards I've had in the past 10 years. ha
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2007/12/03/daily13.html

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RUV says on Dec 7, 2007, 19:00:

I got one as well, but I have not looked at it yet. I am not sure how much I was out. I will have to spend some time and figure it out.

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GregYohn says on Dec 7, 2007, 21:02:

Hola!

I spent alot overseas! LOL! Then I went bankrupt afterwards!

I built a house overseas using a Credit Card...Duh! But, my adultress wife was with multiple men unbeknown to me! Well, who says you can not prosper after doing the right thing?

Yeah, she is not a Colombiana, so do not worry guys! I learned the word Puta from her own cousin after she was missing multiple condoms....when she returned from overseas and her cousin had a month of $1000 hotel bills.

Got a month to hear the whole story? Msg me. Do not worry women, she is only 1/4 latina and is from Asia!

12VOIP.com gives free calls to Colombia.Greg

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Miguel says on Dec 7, 2007, 22:33:

According the the Class Action letter, you have the right to request a record from your bank of all of your out of country credit card and debit card transactions for the time frame specified in the law suit. Option 3 seems to be the best one for frequent travelers.

This could possibly offset all of those bullshit extra charges we have been stuck with for international transactions.

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vicshere says on Dec 8, 2007, 03:53:

what about canadian cards...we dont count...pisser

listo

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Rob77 says on Dec 8, 2007, 04:40:

Kid, thanks for sharing this. I'll have to calculate which option would work out better, # 2 or 3.

BOYCOTT CITGO - CHAVEZ SUCKS!!!

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panthdave says on Dec 8, 2007, 10:06:

Funny Amex was left out...because they disclose in there contract you will be charged..I have a feeling this has to do with the disclosures in the bank contracts with Mastercard/Visa..Definitely going to get something back. yep Merry Christmas..

panthdave Miami

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goin_south says on Dec 8, 2007, 11:20:

I doubt anyone (but the attorneys involved) are really going to get any money back on this....
Good Luck, though.

Why Not Colombia?..........Stay Tuned, for more.... utterly worthless, self-indulgent gobbets of nonsense.

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msaucey says on Dec 8, 2007, 18:50:

Where's my letter.... hmmmm.... I guess, it's time to check the mailbox....

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

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goin_south says on Dec 8, 2007, 22:25:

MSAUCEY...
REPORT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA MAGISTRATE COURT.

Why Not Colombia?..........Stay Tuned, for more.... utterly worthless, self-indulgent gobbets of nonsense.

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travelingirl says on Dec 9, 2007, 01:06:

If you don't get one in the mail, you can still fill a form out online, but you have to provide more info than if you get it in the mail.

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tomtom33 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 9, 2007, 03:13:

My bank has told me that they will charge US$5 per statement(per monthly statement) to retrieve my old statements. Or I could just try to do estimates for #3.

I wonder if #2 would be an option when I spend 8 months per year in Colombia?

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travelingirl says on Dec 9, 2007, 06:07:

That's why I'm only going to do option 1 or 2. You don't have to list CC or bank info.

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tomtom33 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 9, 2007, 07:24:

I checked with my US bank. The whole thing and the website are legitimate. Did you ever pay for anything online with a credit card? This is no different.

And I know several people who have gotten refunds. It makes no difference to us who gets what. The only thing that matters is what I get. If I had charges and ATM withdrawals of, say, US$100,000 over the time period, and I was charged 1%. My claim would be for US$1000. However, I sincerely doubt that I would get US$1000. I would get my portion of the pot. That would come to somewhere between the $25 and my claim. I'm sure that it would be much closer to the $25.

I intend to file a claim just on principal.

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gringokid says on Dec 9, 2007, 10:42:

I dont think any claims will be paid until after march 31 after the deadline to file your claim which was a little later than that....

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goin_south says on Dec 9, 2007, 12:01:

I have never said: "GIB and I told you so", but.......

jjiejjee... on principal? I'd rather buy a gal of marinero yerri and celebrate the loss...on principal

Why Not Colombia?..........Stay Tuned, for more.... utterly worthless, self-indulgent gobbets of nonsense.

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tomtom33 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 9, 2007, 13:04:

GIB, did you read the settlement? The final approval generally does not come until everthing has been completed. If you file a claim for the $25, you get the $25 and are barred from further claims. You can also file for exclusion.

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tomtom33 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 9, 2007, 13:08:

I will.

I don't expect to make out well. I'm just going to file and see what happens.

Bank fees really piss me off.

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TonyMattei says on Dec 9, 2007, 14:29:

any body know how many people are in involved in the C.A.S i was involved in one last year from all state car insurance and there were 52,424 plaintiffs....and i signed a form with nothing but my name and address on it and mailed back and within 6 weeks i had a check for 32 dollars whoopi.....granted this is alot larger claim..... all they need is your name and address of statement of the credit card tha wass used during that span of your travels. all this should be in there data base i am not sending nothing but my name and address.....not spending a dime on bank statements. for 336 mill dollars minus legal fees 300million i bet there are over 5 million plantiffs on this one

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ferrran says on Dec 9, 2007, 17:46:

Bankers work with drug trafficking launderers, and they're always looking for ways to do their laundering. Through credit and debit cards, it makes the perfect way. Think about it - pay your credit card in the U.S.A. at the assigned bank in cash and no questions are asked, then you retrieve this money in a country like Colombia, millions of dollars can be squeaky clean in a matter of seconds, so by filling out some questionnaire with some kind of a bait, maybe some small fish that's being followed by a big fish, might be caught in the net. Remember - if it looks to good to be true, something is fishy about it; nevertheless, if you are a clean person, you'll end up in someone's database. Good luck collecting your U.S. devaluing $25

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Miguel says on Dec 9, 2007, 18:27:

We're already in several databases.

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nine inch nails says on Dec 10, 2007, 13:36:

Isn't a scam at least per CNN. They mentioned it on Sat. news day. If you don't trust the mailout contact your bank first. They can confirm.

The Hedge funds have all gone wild on us!

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nine inch nails says on Dec 10, 2007, 13:42:

Just verify thru your bank and only then thru a secure site. The $25 is the quick award, more if you spent more. May be worth the time but not at expense of compromising your security.

The Hedge funds have all gone wild on us!

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tomtom33 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 10, 2007, 13:55:

GIB, you could fill out the claim form and mail it in.

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TioJoe says on Dec 10, 2007, 16:28:

Several previous posts have mentioned reservations regarding the information that is being requested on this form. While I believe it is legit it is not worth the fruadulent chance the disclosure of banks and credit card numbers will not be compromised. Even though my settlement would be considerably higher than the $25.00 minimum I was not real excited about announcing to the U.S Court system every dollar I spend in a foreign country -- shredded it immediately.

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tomtom33 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 11, 2007, 01:15:

The case is won. Now it is the settlement phase.

Do you suppose that your credit card company's records are not subject to IRS scrutiny? You cannot use a credit card without risk of compromise.

I could care less about disclosing every dollar I have spent in a foreign country. All of those records are available under the right circumstances anyway.

However, if anything bothers you, do not participate. It is your choice.

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tomtom33 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 11, 2007, 04:37:

I just filed via the Internet using option 2. You can only get 1% using this option. I actually only paid the 3% a very few times. All the rest were at 1%.

They replied with a claim number and a copy of my claim form with only the last 4 digits of my credit card number showing. The filing deadline is 5/30/08. So there is plenty of time.

Buen suerte a todos.

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goin_south says on Dec 11, 2007, 23:15:

party? 1 %? by yourself?

Why Not Colombia?..........Stay Tuned, for more.... utterly worthless, self-indulgent gobbets of nonsense.

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