At Class Action Wallet, we’ve been receiving many questions from our readers about when they can expect to receive their cash payout from the highly publicized Cruise Robocall Settlement. Many of you submitted your claims back in August and have since heard nothing from the settlement administrator or attorneys involved.
Well, now we know what is going on and are pleased to bring you an update to this settlement. According to recent email notice, the court is requiring what is known as a supplemental notice. This means claimants need to provide additional proof in order to get their money. Over two million people filed claims in the Cruise Robocall settlement, the court suspects that a substantial number of these may be fraudulent.
If you were included in the Cruise Robocall settlement and filed a claim by the original deadline of November 3, 2017, you should be receiving an email notice (make sure to check your spam folders!) from the settlement administrator that states, “Recipients of this email must submit proof of their connection to the phone numbers.” Basically, you now need to prove the phone number you gave in your claim form is actually yours. To do this, the court is asking you to provide a phone bill or any supplemental information that shows the phone number is yours. Claimants have until May 1, 2018 to upload this supplemental proof and can do this here.
To refresh your memory, the Cruise Robocall Settlement stems from claims brought by plaintiff Philip Charvet that Resort Marketing Group (RMG) violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act or TCPA, by placing automated telemarketing calls to consumers offering them a free cruise vacation with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or Norwegian Cruise lines if they paid certain “fees”, which RMG kept.
“Over the four years prior to the filing of this lawsuit, and extending until March of 2014 – long after the filing of this lawsuit in July of 2012 – millions of illegal pre-recorded telemarketing calls were initiated by Travel Services to consumers nationwide, promoting by trade name the cruise services of the Cruise Defendants,” the Cruise Robocall class action lawsuit alleges.
Charvet challenged RMG’s practices alleging that since consumers never provided their express consent to receive these telemarketing calls as mandated by the TCPA, the company broke the law. The case also got the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. “The scope of the illegal telemarketing campaign at issue is also evidenced by records of consumer complaints obtained from the Federal Trade Commission in response to Freedom of Information Act requests,” the Cruise Robocall class action lawsuit noted.
The original settlement class included anyone who received a pre-recorded phone call on their residential or cell phone between July 2009 and March 2014 from RMG and a maximum payout of $900. This has since been updated to state “if you were the owner, subscriber, or user of a residential or cellular telephone line” that received the telemarketing robocalls. Additionally, claimants will now get a pro rata, or equal share, of the settlement, once all claims have been verified.
RMG continues to deny the claims and says they did not violate the TCPA but agreed to settle the class action lawsuit to the tune of $12.5 million.
The Class is represented by Matthew P. McCue of The Law Office of Matthew P. McCue; Alexander H. Burke and Daniel J. Marovitch of Burke Law Offices LLC; and Edward A. Broderick and Anthony Paronich of Broderick & Paronich PC.
The Cruise Robocall TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Charvat v. Resort Marketing Group Inc., et al., Case No. 1:12-cv-5746, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
i deleted the phone numbers most of the time when they call. are there specific phone numbers they called from so i can better check my records.
thank you,
DN
Dear Dayne
You need not submit call records showing you were called by the telemarketer. You only need to verify ownership of your phone number.
Any documentation that will allow the Parties or the Settlement Administrator to independently verify the claimant’s ownership, use or subscription to the phone number at issue will be sufficient. For example, telephone bills, white pages, credit reports that list phone numbers you have used in the past (with personal information covered up except your name and address), business cards, etc. To be considered, all submissions must include your Claim # . Any documentation provided without noting a Claim # will not be reviewed.
• You may submit supportive documents via the web-portal at http://www.RMGTCPASettlement.com. You may also respond via e-mail at rmgtcpasettlement@kccllc.com, and you may also send supportive documents by U.S. Mail to:
RMG TCPA Settlement Administrator Documentation
P.O. Box 404022
Louisville, KY 40233-4022
The deadline to submit documentation is October 29, 2018. Any claims submissions received after this date will be treated as late and will not be reviewed and included in the settlement.
• Any information submitted will be deemed confidential and only will be used to confirm the connection between the claimant and the claimant’s phone number.
• Due to the need for the supplemental claims verification process as described above, the Final Approval Hearing has been reset for October 30, 2018.
Attention: I am not a rep of Class Action Wallet. The info I provided above was taken from the email I was sent in connection to this class action lawsuit.
Your annual credit report lists phone numbers that you previously used. Is this sufficient?
SL,
yes you can use your credit report with the phone number at issue listed on it.
I have trying to follow up there has been no correspondence since filling November 2017. . Please contact me with information about my claim # CQCCRD.
Thanks
Lorraine,
If you were included in the Cruise Robocall settlement and filed a claim by the original deadline of November 3, 2017, you should of received an email notice (make sure to check your spam folders!) from the settlement administrator that states, “Recipients of this email must submit proof of their connection to the phone numbers.” Basically, you now need to prove the phone number you gave in your claim form is actually yours.
To do this, the court is asking you to provide a phone bill or any supplemental information that shows the phone number is yours.
Documents sufficient to verify ownership may include telephone bills, white pages, credit reports that list phone numbers you have used in the past (with personal information covered up except your name and address), business cards, etc.
A contact page from your cell phone that lists you as the owner of the number is not sufficient because it is not independent verification of use or ownership. Claimants have until May 1, 2018 to upload this supplemental info.
UPDATE: Due to the need for the supplemental claims verification process as described above, the Final Approval Hearing has been reset for October 30, 2018.
If you did not submit any proof of your connection to the number at issue you have until Oct 29,2018.
To be considered, all submissions must include your Claim # as any documentation provided without noting a Claim # will not be reviewed.
• You may submit supportive documents via the web-portal at http://www.RMGTCPASettlement.com. You may also respond via e-mail at rmgtcpasettlement@kccllc.com, and you may also send supportive documents by U.S. Mail to:
RMG TCPA Settlement Administrator Documentation
P.O. Box 404022
Louisville, KY 40233-4022
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE CONTACT rmgtcpasettlement@kccllc.com OR CALL 1-855-636-6134.
I am not a rep of class action wallet, My source of the info I provided is taken from the emails I received in connection with this class action lawsuit. Hope this helps.