Posted on March 1, 2006 by Jeffrey Carton

Class Actions Against Costco in California and New York

Recent class actions in California and New York have been brought against Costco on behalf of consumers who, according to the lawsuit, had their memberships improperly back-dated. Specifically, as alleged in the complaints, filed by Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C., Costco members, who purchased "renewal" membership after their older memberships expired, did not receive the expected full year of membership; rather than starting their new membership on the actual date that the member paid, Costco back-dated the membership to begin the day following expiration of the old membership.

For example, if a member chose to let his or her membership lapse upon expiration on October 1st and then subsequently decided to purchase a new "renewal" membership on December 5th, Costco, according to the class action, routinely and as a matter of practice back-dated the membership to begin on October 2nd rather than on the date the member had actually renewed (and paid for) the membership (i.e., December 5th). As a result, the class action suit contends, members are receiving less than 12 months of their "annual" membership, despite having paid a full membership fee.

This case is an example of a consumer fraud case where customers are potentially being deprived of the benefit of their bargain, and most would have never known, except for the filing of the class action law suit.

Feel free to tell the classactionblog about any similar experiences you have had as a consumer.

Tags: