The money is yours. If you bought an electronic device in Canada between 1999 and 2002, themoneyismine.ca wants to send you $20 or more, because you probably overpaid.
The deal is part of the multi-million dollar settlement of a series of class action lawsuits against memory manufacturers accused of fixing (and illegally inflating) the price of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) found in electronics from computers and printers to PDAs, MP3 players and video game controllers.
In Canada, the defendants settled the case out of court and some $80 million in settlement funds have been set aside for Canadians that bought electronics during the specified period: April 1, 1999 and June 30, 2002. The law firms that brought the case — Belleau Lapointe, Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman, Harrison Pensa and Sutts Strosberg – have launched the themoneyismine.ca campaign to ensure as many qualified Canadians as possible are able to claim the compensation they’re owed.
“It’s a great outcome for Canadian consumers,” said J.J. Camp, partner at Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman, in a statement. “We’ve made it easy for them to get their money back. I also think it’s an opportunity for all Canadians to show that they want healthy competition between consumer product companies.”
Canadians are eligible if they’re over 18 and, during the period specified, bought electronic devices containing DRAM, such as computers and servers, printers, PDAs, graphics cards, video recorders, video game consoles and MP3 players.
If you don’t have the receipt for that iPod you bought 16 years ago and stopped using 14 years ago, not to worry: you can claim the base compensation of $20 without a receipt. If you have saved all your receipts for 16-year-old electronics, first of all, wow, OK then. And secondly, with the receipts you may be eligible for higher compensation.
Businesses are also eligible, and households must file as a unit.
The web site contains more information on the claim process, including the documentation needed if you’re claiming more than the base compensation. If you’re just doing the basic $20 claim, it’s just one form that can be completed in less than 60 seconds and your $20 is on the way.
Except, not quite. Once you fill out and submit the form, you’ll get this note:
“In class actions, payment typically occurs a year or more after the claims deadline. After all claims evaluations and any appeals are completed, the Claims Administrator must obtain authorization from the court to make the proposed payments to Settlement Class Members. Payments will only be made once the authorization is received.”
The claims deadline is June 23, 2015, so get your claims in now. And start thinking about what you’ll do with that $20 in the summer of 2016.