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Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

nytimes.com

191–200 of 286 posts

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd like to see the courts force Equifax to pay $X to everyone whose information they leaked, whether they request it or not. Unfortunately I'm not sure that's an option: "You can’t ask the Court to order a larger settlement; the Court can only approve or deny the settlement as it is."

Denying the settlement leaves open the possibility of a larger one. The court just can't order the subsequent negotiation have a specific result.

Which is not what the parent comment was going for. It said, "I'd like to see the courts force Equifax [...]".

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also tried to freeze my credit and their website required me to put something in the mail. I did, including sending copies of various documents, and never got any response. I have the same issue with one of the credit reporting bureaus. They refuse to give me my legally required free credit report despite multiple attempts and mailings.

IANAL and I have not tried this, but have heard of it working: would sending a letter threatening a lawsuit get their attention?

I would have to get an actual lawyer with a lawyer's letterhead for them to care, probably. I don't really want to spend hundreds of dollars to get my free credit report.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#194
post #175
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I, for one, think it's kind of unfair that equifax is being blamed for the contents of communications it had no hand in crafting. Especially when the major organizations like the NYTimes are so unclear in their headline writing about what is actually going on.

I guess we disagree both on that this article was misleading and that Equifax doesn't deserve the blame. Equifax had a lot of say in how this settlement played out. My guess is their legal team is trying to reduce the number of cash claimants so they don't get the bad press when $.02 checks get mailed out--or there's some other benefit in adding more steps to this silly process. Their legal team is representing their…

Saying "Equifax Data Breach Settlement Administrator" (taken from equifaxbreachsettlement.com) instead of "Equifax settlement team" (used in the article) doesn't seem appreciably different.

I agree those two aren't appreciably different. They are both bad if the writer doesn't make it clear that the team (no matter the name) isn't in the employ or under the influence of equifax in any way.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#195
post #131

Don't know if anyone posted this before, but if you scroll down to #25 here: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq You can send a letter to the Courts and let them know why you do or don't think this is a sufficient and decent settlement. Share it, let's get people writing in, because this lets Equifax keep really everything and in the end little real effect from their failure to take care of the information th…

Thanks for posting this. My wife and I already have credit monitoring so we’ve been very frustrated that it seems like Equifax will be weaseling out of paying us our $125 each. We’ll be sending a couple of letters today. Personally I’d like to see the courts rethink the settlement and force the $125 payout to everyone who requested it.

Is it just me who thinks that $125 would hardly cover the cost of dealing with a stolen identity?

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#196

It seems like companies only get the message when there’s jail time involved. None of the companies would freeze my credit since their web sites said some unspecified value couldn’t be verified for me, despite confirming my data was indeed lost. Pretty sure, like other regulations that include jail time, this wouldn’t have happened or their website to freeze my credit would have worked.

Why is Hacker news so obsessed with sending people to jail? Literally every time any sort of corporation get's fined (for nearly anything), there is a loud call to send people to prison.

It's like there is this undercurrent of bloodthirstiness and hatred for large companies and their leaders that get's brought to the surface.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for posting this. My wife and I already have credit monitoring so we’ve been very frustrated that it seems like Equifax will be weaseling out of paying us our $125 each. We’ll be sending a couple of letters today. Personally I’d like to see the courts rethink the settlement and force the $125 payout to everyone who requested it.

I'd like to see the courts force Equifax to pay $X to everyone whose information they leaked, whether they request it or not. But this settlement doesn't seem to be about actually punishing Equifax at all or fairly recompensing those affected.

This is a very, very imperfect method of figuring out the key question here ("Would Equifax just file for bankruptcy?"), but their enterprise value is ~$20B, and paying out $125 per person would cost over $18B, so it seems pretty clear you'd need to reduce the per person payout. It would take more work than I can put in right now to decide what it should be, but finger in the wind halving it seems like the right starting point.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#198
It seems like we should sue Equifax for their fraudulent handling of the settlement and also the FTC for letting it through. It seems like it was such a joke that it was probably enabled by bribes or something.

They should start over and aim for explicitly liquidating and redistributing all of Equifax's assets. At the same time if there were bribes or conflicts of interest at the FTC then those people involved should go to prison.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for posting this. My wife and I already have credit monitoring so we’ve been very frustrated that it seems like Equifax will be weaseling out of paying us our $125 each. We’ll be sending a couple of letters today. Personally I’d like to see the courts rethink the settlement and force the $125 payout to everyone who requested it.

Is it just me who thinks that $125 would hardly cover the cost of dealing with a stolen identity?

You could file for additional compensation based on documented damages (time, cost, etc). I'm not sure if that came from a separate settlement or not (doubtful) or if the documentation requirements are even more onerous (likely), but there was definitely an option to do this.

Re: Equifax doesn't want consumers to get their $125

#200
post #131

Don't know if anyone posted this before, but if you scroll down to #25 here: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/faq You can send a letter to the Courts and let them know why you do or don't think this is a sufficient and decent settlement. Share it, let's get people writing in, because this lets Equifax keep really everything and in the end little real effect from their failure to take care of the information th…

I mentioned this myself earlier, but later I noticed 2 huge caveats I hadn't noticed before: 1. If you are a Settlement Class Member , you can object 2. Your objection letter must include: A statement as to whether you intend to appear at the Fairness Hearing This means you cannot opt out and also object, and you also need to spend $$$ either traveling to the court or finding a lawyer to appear for you. Not sure how…

The article mentions this, but the court will read all the objections. In reality, this means that a clerk will probably be tasked with reading and summarizing them for the judge, and the judge might read some of the most compelling or a selection of them. While it's probably less impactful than showing up, you can definitely object and exert some influence on the judge's decision.
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