Emily Sortor  |  March 28, 2019

Category: Legal News

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audible app open on phoneAudible will give out 12 million free audiobooks to end class action lawsuits accusing the Amazon company of cheating users out of earned credits and violating gift card laws.

The Audible settlement deal received preliminary approval from U.S. District Judge George H. Wu last week.

Under the terms of the audio book credit deal, 8.4 million users will also be reimbursed for overdraft fees they were charged when the company allegedly applied charges to a back up credit or debit card without authorization.

In addition, the audio book company will have to pay $1.5 million in attorney fees.

This Audible class action settlement is the result of 18 months of “hard-fought” litigation, and would end two related Audible lawsuits.

Before the settlement deal was reached, Audible twice attempted to have the users’ claims dismissed. Reportedly, the settlement deal was reached after mediation, two appeals, and after the claims were addressed in three venues. The initial deal was reached in November last year and minor edits were made after a December hearing.

Audible users expressed approval of the settlement, saying that “this combination of in-kind relief, a reimbursement right, and injunctive relief provides an excellent result for class members.” Users went on to say that the settlement was an excellent one “given the complexities of this case and the risks of litigation.”

Under the audiobook settlement deal, Audible has agreed to revise and clarify its advertisements, disclosures, and terms.

This will reportedly offer users more clarity on policies regarding credit expiration, auto-pay and back-up card policies. Allegedly, a lack of clarity was part of why Audible was charging back up cards without users’ consent.

In March 2017, plaintiffs Grant McKee, Eric Weber, and Michael Rogawski sued Audible for allegedly cheating users out of credits they earned for free audiobooks.

Additionally, Audible and its parent company Amazon were accused of improperly charging unauthorized cards for Audible memberships.

The Audible class action lawsuit claimed the company charged cards that were saved to users’ Amazon accounts but were not authorized for use in their Audible accounts. According to users, this was done without user consent.

Reportedly, the court transferred these claims or sent them to arbitration, but this is allegedly “tentative” and the rulings have not been adopted.

Per the acceptance of the Audible settlement deal, all of McKee, Weber, and Rogawski’s claims are resolved. Audible has agreed to notify Class Members of their settlement benefits — audiobook credits or reimbursement — via email.

The nationwide Class is broken into three subclasses based on those who lost unredeemed paid membership credits between March 2013 and August 2018, those who lost gift membership credits between August 2011 and August 2018, and those who were charged on a credit or debit card other than the designated card between March 2013 and August 2018.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The Audible users are represented b Jamin S. Soderstrom of Soderstrom Law PC.

The Audible Improperly Charged Card Class Action Lawsuits are Grant McKee, et al. v. Audible Inc. and Eric Weber, et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., et al., Case Nos. 2:17-cv-01941 and 2:17-cv-08868, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
UPDATE: April 2019, the Audible audiobooks class action settlement is now open.Click here to learn more.

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166 thoughts onAudible Will Give Out 12M Audiobooks to Settle Class Action Lawsuits

  1. kwilt says:

    Sept 11 2018
    to customersupport+A2GHU2I5OUL4OC

    Well you guys lost a customer and I am seriously concerned about Amazon and my trust of them. Thanks for all the apologizes, but the only thing that will really make me happy is to hear you are changing this bone-headed policy because it is wrong.

    I still can’t stand that something buried in the agreement just allows you to keep charging credit cards you have on file until you find one that works. I NEVER gave you authorization to use THAT card!

    Just frantically grab, because I guess you need the $14.95.

    Um what you should do, and what would be a more respectable business practice, is simply discontinue service and give your customer a grace period to update their card.

    It doesn’t sound like you are willing to change the policy, so guess worth $14.95 to continue to risk losing customers like me.

    On Tue, Sep 11, 2018 at 10:50 AM Audible Customer Service wrote:

    Audible
    Your Account Audible.com
    Message From Customer Service

    Hello,

    Thank you for contacting Audible!

    Jeff Bezos received your message and I am responding you on his behalf. We are sorry for any inconvenience that was caused by the charge on your mother’s card due to the Wallet Cycling policy. We are glad that you were able to get that charge refunded back to her card. While credits are part of your membership benefits and so are cancelled when you cancel your membership, all your books that you get are yours to keep with or without an active membership. You can definitely use your credits before canceling your membership and all your books will still be available to you in your account. Let us know if you have any other questions.

    Thank you again for contacting Audible. If you would like additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    Sincerely,
    Sally
    Audible.com

  2. Trinell Moore says:

    add me

  3. Dianna Robertson says:

    Add me

  4. Jennifer Villanueva says:

    Add me

  5. Lisa Marie Ellis says:

    ADD ME PLEASE.

  6. Bunny schwartz trav says:

    I’ve been a paying member since 2013

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