Wednesday, December 1, 2010

CU Member Files Lawsuit Over Gift Card Fees

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Visa, Services Credit Union and 1st MidAmerica Credit Union alleging that these companies failed to disclose administrative fees for gift cards.

The plaintiffs, Karen Rhodes and Gene Rhodes, allege that the defendant companies deducted administrative fees before the "valid through" date, making the cards worth less than face value. The lawsuit was filed in Madison County Circuit Court.

Karen Rhodes claims she bought a gift card for her father-in-law that had a $50 value with a valid thru date printed on its face. Unknown to her, the actual value of the Visa Gift Card was only $35 at the time she purchased it because the defendants had imposed administrative fees of $2.50 per month before she even bought the gift card. When her father-in-law went to use the card it actually had a value of $2 due to the application of monthly administrative fees.

The suit claims that the credit union violated the Illinois' Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Policies Act.

The lawsuit is asking the court to declare a class action for everyone who bought gift cards from the credit union around the same time and to repay the members the costs of the administrative fees.

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