Have you bought anything from the Microsoft physical store before Feb. 24? If you answered yes, then you could be entitled to some money.
A class action lawsuit filed against the Microsoft Store in 2015 alleges that the company violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act or FACTA.
The lawsuit was filed in 2015 by Carlos Guarisma in the Southern Florida District Court in connection with a purchase he made at the Microsoft store in Aventura, Florida. The proposed settlement for the lawsuit will entitle affected consumers to $100.
Reason Behind The Lawsuit
According to Guarisma's statement, the purchase receipt reflected more than the required number of payment card digits. Apart from the name of the customer and the salesperson, the receipt also revealed the first six and the last four digits of his payment card.
Based on the U.S. FACTA, shop retailers are restricted from revealing not more than the last five digits of the payment card on the purchase receipt. This particular law was created to protect the customer from all kinds of forgery or theft. All retailers were entitled to comply with the act by 2006.
However, such grave encounters are not at all expected from a company like Microsoft which works with a team of dedicated staff and has been abiding with the said law for years.
"In addition to the unlawful disclosure of his credit card account number, the violative receipt contains other sensitive information about Plaintiff as well, including his name, and the name of the salesperson that conducted the transaction," stated the lawsuit which was filed against Microsoft.
Guarisma filed the lawsuit on behalf of every customer who used their cards to make payments at the Microsoft store between November 2013 and Feb. 24, 2017. The filed claim stated that despite clear indication of the law known by all, the defendant (in this case Microsoft) willfully or knowingly chose not to abide by the rule.
Amount To Be Paid By Microsoft
The company will now have to pay about $1.2 million as settlement amount for the class action lawsuit. According to the proposed term of settlements, Microsoft will be paying $1,194,696 to all the affected customers in the United States, and each consumer can claim up to $100, only if they come forward to lodge a complaint.
However, the payment to be given by Microsoft will be covering the attorney's fees as well, which is estimated to be around $400,000.
Guarisma, being the foreman, is entitled to get approximately $10,000. The settlement is awaiting both the approval and certifications by Judge Cecilia Altonaga.
Update: A Microsoft spokesperson reached out in an e-mail to confirm that the matter has been resolved.
"This was a technical bug that we immediately fixed when it was brought to our attention. We're pleased this matter is resolved and are committed to protecting our customers," said the spokesperson to Tech Times.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
