Life Alert Automatic Charge Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A consumer launched a class action lawsuit against Life Alert Emergency Response, Inc and 10 unnamed defendants.
- Why: Andrews claims Life Alert continues to charge customers’ bank accounts after they have requested to cancel its services.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
Life Alert Emergency Response, Inc continues to issue charges on customers’ bank accounts after they have requested to discontinue its services, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Lead plaintiff Phyllis Andrews claims Life Alert—which sells products and services used to contact emergency services—misleads consumers from the get-go about the terms of its automatic renewal policy.
Andrews wants to represent a nationwide Class and California subclass of consumers who—within one year of the filing of this complaint nationwide and four years for California—had their bank accounts charged by Life Alert following a request to cancel its services.
Life Alert Keeps Charging Consumers Despite Cancelations, Warns Class Action
The plaintiff says she believed she was entering a month-to-month agreement with Life Alert when she signed up for the company’s services in June of last year.
The month-to-month agreement was purported to require her to pay $89 each month, with the money automatically being taken out of her account via an automatic debit charge, according to the class action lawsuit.
What Andrews actually entered into was a “negative option” agreement that required her to inform Life Alert and return its equipment if she ever sought to cancel the company’s services, the class action lawsuit alleges.
Andrews claims that, in February, after trying to cancel her agreement with Life Alert and returning its equipment, the company, without authorization, debited her bank account once more for $89 in March.
“Defendant did not provide to Plaintiff, nor did Plaintiff execute, any written or electronic writing memorializing the final automatic payment made in March,” states the class action lawsuit.
Andrews alleges further that Life Alert never explained its automatic renewal or continuous service offers in a “clear and conspicuous manner” and never got her affirmative consent to implement them.
Andrews claims Life Alert is in violation of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, and California’s Unfair Competition Law and Automatic Purchase Renewals Statute.
Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting damages, injunctive relief, and any other available legal or equitable remedies for themselves and all Class Members.
Life Alert was ordered to pay $750,000 earlier this year after an investigation by attorney generals in New York found evidence the company was violating consumer protection laws.
Have you received a charge on your bank account from Life Alert after canceling its services? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Todd M. Friedman, Adrian R. Bacon, Meghan E. George, and Thomas E. Wheeler of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, P.C.
The Life Alert Automatic Charge Class Action Lawsuit is Andrews v. Life Alert Emergency Response, Inc., et al., Case No. 5:21-cv-01769, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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24 thoughts onLife Alert Continues Automatic Charging After Its Services Are Canceled, Says Class Action
My husband told Life Alert he did not want the service as we cannot afford it. They billed him for something he never received and consequently he had a expensive overdraft taken out of his account and with the bank fees his account got totally wiped out. We don’t even have money for food now.