$16.5M Apple Auto-Renew App Class Action Settlement Gets OK

A judge has preliminarily approved a $16.5 million settlement in an Apple auto renewal class action alleging the tech company automatically renews subscriptions without consumer consent.

On July 20, California Superior Court Judge Brian C. Walsh granted initial approval of the Apple class action, commending the plaintiffs and defendants for reaching a deal successfully. “Good job settling this case,” Judge Walsh said.

Class Members eligible for compensation from the Apple app class action settlement include California consumers who purchased an Apple auto renewal subscription and were billed by the company between Dec. 1, 2010 and Sept. 13, 2016.

Under the $16.5 million settlement, each of the estimated 4 million Class Members will receive an average of $3 each. Class counsel is intending to request up to $4 million in attorneys’ fees and costs. A final hearing for the settlement is scheduled for Nov. 2.

Plaintiffs Melissa Bleak, Frank Siciliano, and Kelila Green filed the Apple auto renewal class action lawsuit in June 2013. In their class action, the plaintiffs claimed that Apple automatically renewed their subscriptions without consent.

Siciliano and Green, a married couple, experienced the allegedly wrongfully auto renewal in October 2013. The couple said they ordered a one-week free trial for Hulu Plus on their Apple TV. After their one week trial was done, Apple allegedly started charging their account $7.99 monthly without their consent.

Bleak claims to have experienced the auto renewal practices in February 2013 after purchasing a one year subscription to Woman’s Health Magazine through her iTunes account. A year later, Apple allegedly charged her for another year of subscription to the magazine, without her consent.

The plaintiffs say this practice is widespread, with subscription charges ranging from $1.99 to $18.99. The class action argues that this Apple auto renewal policy violates California’s Automatic Renewal Law because the company fails to tell consumers that their subscriptions would not be refunded if they weren’t cancelled. Plaintiffs also argue that Apple fails to provide an easy cancellation method and didn’t inform consumers how to cancel their subscription purchases.

The Apple auto renewal class action claimed that the successful tech company “failed, continues to fail, to first obtain Plaintiffs and class members affirmative consent to the agreement containing the automatic renewal offer terms or continuous service offer terms in violation of [California Business Code].”

Apple fought against the class action during litigation, arguing that they had no obligation to their consumers to disclose auto renewal details. The company also claimed that plaintiffs knew about their auto renewing subscriptions and did not attempt to cancel or get a refund from the company after being charged for the renewal.

Class certification was granted in April 2017, and consumers had until October 2017 to exclude themselves from the class action.

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.

Plaintiffs are represented by Laura L. Ho and Katharine Fisher of Goldstein Borgen Dardarian & Ho.

The Apple Auto Renewal App Class Action Lawsuit is Siciliano v. Apple Inc., Case No. 2013­-1-­CV-­257676, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara.