Netgear's Generous Settlement: Buy More Of Our Stuff

from the justice-both-blind-and-stupid dept

Netgear has settled a class-action lawsuit that alleged its Wi-Fi products couldn't send data as fast as advertised. Apparently the only real change is that Netgear advertising that mentions WiFi speeds of up to 240 Mbps "may vary" -- while affected users get a 15 percent discount on future wireless equipment. The lawyers get $700,000, while users get 15 percent off when they buy another Netgear product. Let's see, they were upset enough to take part in a class-action suit, so presumably they wouldn't have bought another Netgear product. Now, their award is a meager inducement to buy something else from Netgear -- that makes marginally less misleading claims. Who's the winner here?
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  • identicon
    jumboloan, 28 Nov 2005 @ 12:21pm

    so what

    The winner is the consumer. Companies like Netgear that pull this will know in the future they will be sued and thus be honest, this helps the consumer. As far as the lawyers go, why begrudge them for making a profit, they took the risk of their time and resources not knowing if it would pay off. I like Netgear products, they are much easier for me to setup and use than Linksys and Hawkins. I would like the coupon for their other products, especially their .11g adapter for my Tivo.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    justin, 28 Nov 2005 @ 12:21pm

    Lawyers

    The lawyers win

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mark, 28 Nov 2005 @ 12:53pm

    The Lawyers

    Who are the winners in class action lawsuits? The only winners in every class action lawsuit are the lawyers.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Jimmy Bear, 28 Nov 2005 @ 1:00pm

      Re: The Lawyers

      Indeed... what Mark said...

      I was an unwitting member to a class action law suit against a major VISA/MC card issuer. The lawyers got seven figures. I got a check for $.47 (that's FORTY-SEVEN CENTS).

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 28 Nov 2005 @ 1:50pm

        Re: The Lawyers

        well its better than nothing...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        bg, 28 Nov 2005 @ 1:53pm

        Re: The Lawyers

        No kidding. After the record companies were caught red-handed fixing prices, I got a check for $13. I looked at my collection of 500 cd's and decided that I would never buy another one. And I haven't. And the RIAA wonders why people download...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Matt Bennett, 28 Nov 2005 @ 1:15pm

    winners

    The Lawyers, always the lawyers. Our court system is broken.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    hautedawg, 28 Nov 2005 @ 1:56pm

    Who wins?

    The consumer never wins. Maytag just went through a CAL (class action lawsuit) and gave consumers the opportunity to pay for a new washer and get small rebate. Again the attorneys win!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    John, 28 Nov 2005 @ 2:30pm

    Broken Legal System

    The British have a reasonable provision. In civil suits, they require losers to pay the winners' court costs. This does two things:
    It cuts down on frivolous suits. People don't sue because they burned themselves on a hot cup of coffee.
    It encourages early settlement. In our system, delay is a strategy. A corporation with deep pockets can hope to outlast its opponent (whose pockets may not be so deep). If they realize that their potential liablity is increasing, they have an incentive to negotiate and settle quickly.
    Of course, most of Congress is made up of lawyers, and the American Trial Lawyers Association would scream bloody murder, but it's still a good idea.
    John

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      sicko the lawyers, 28 Nov 2005 @ 3:38pm

      Re: Broken Legal System

      I completely agree, and let's cut off a thumb for good measure! (I AM NOT JOKING!!)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Edward, 28 Nov 2005 @ 5:42pm

      Re: Broken Legal System

      Quote:
      "The British have a reasonable provision. In civil suits, they require losers to pay the winners' court costs."

      You're a bit behind the times mate. Britain went "No Win, No Fee" several years ago and it's been a complete p.i.t.a. ever since. Small town carnivals and parades have been cancelled for fear of being sued. So have bonfire nights organised by small local clubs. Local councils have closed down public playgrounds because they aren't staffed by trained personel 24/7 all for fear of getting sued.
      I was even reading in a paper about a single decker bus being involved in an accident which was sued by a couple of hundred people for compensation - the bus only holds 47 and was only half full - aparrantly the bus company did a cost analysis and it was cheaper to pay everyone than to take each individual to court.
      The list goes on. End result? Less joy and higher insurance premiums.
      --
      Quote:
      "It cuts down on frivolous suits. People don't sue because they burned themselves on a hot cup of coffee."

      Just FYI, but the in the case you're referring to the woman had to undergo skin graft treatment to repair the damage caused by the coffee.
      I realise we all have different views but imho if spilling coffee on yourself results in $10K of medical bills, there's something wrong with the coffee.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    WollyHood, 28 Nov 2005 @ 3:37pm

    Bad Class Action, No Donut


    Yeah, all of those class action lawsuits are bad. They are all evil tricks of the vile lawyers! Those evil bastiges are suing Sony over some alleged root kit attack on users computers. What really matters in the suit is that the people who bought CDs get money out of Sony. I am sure Sony withdrew the CDs in question out of the goodness of their heart and not from fear of the liability induced by their customers ability to combine resources and file class action lawsuits.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Bryan Price, 29 Nov 2005 @ 7:40am

    Screw the lawyer bashing...

    Some time ago, I was interested in getting some faster network cards to get my systems talking at 100Mb instead of the 10Mb that I was getting from my 3Com 3C509Bs. I bought two Netgear Ethernet cards, having read some good reviews about them. They wouldn't even talk to each other (I had a known good crossover cable and a known good straight cable - the crossover cable did indicate that that I had some connection - never 100Mb). I even bought a Netgear 10/100Mb hub, thinking that might solve the problem. I bought a kit with two cards and cabling. After trying to get all combinations working, I was able to get it to sort of work with one of my 3C509Bs and one specific card of the four that I had. The Netgear would still lose the connection every now and then.

    Needless to say, I went back to the two 3C509Bs. I won't buy Netgear again because of that. A 3C509B was pretty much the industry standard at the time (yes, that long ago...)

    Oh, and technical support, once I finally got through to them that my cables were absolutely working correctly, could only suggest the latest drivers from their website.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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