E-Companies face class action suits

A class action suit alleges that when a bidder increases his maximum bid limit, eBay sometimes submits a bid on his behalf, even if he was already the highest bidder. The suit, filed in the Santa Clara County Superior Court, was brought on behalf of Glenn Block and a class of bidders who purchased items on eBay during the past four years. Block accuses the auction house of raising a bid for an item he was trying to purchase from $111 to $112.50, after he responded to an e-mail warning that he had reached his maximum bid limit and was the highest bidder. Block alleged that he didn’t need to pay the extra $1.50 to win the auction. His suit accuses eBay of pitting bidders against themselves, and profiting from the increased bids. According to Reed Kathrein, Block’s lawyer, while the monetary difference from each sale is generally minimal, given the volume of transactions on eBay, ‘winning bidders are collectively losing millions of dollars to eBay, its sellers and its PayPal financial arm’. The practice has been compared to shilling – bidding for an item, with no intention of buying it, merely to increase its price. Full Out-Law.com Read another CNET News report

Another suit seeking class action status is one against Dell, which charges that the company is ‘systematically deceiving’ its customers, reports CNET News. The suit, filed by California law firm Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, accuses Dell of ‘bait and switch’ practices, false advertising, fraud and deceit in sales and advertising, and breach of contract. The cases centres on the allegation that Dell advertises low prices for its computers, but people who try to purchase a machine at the advertised price find it\'s no longer available for that price. Often those customers wind up with another computer, the suit said. The suit also said that Dell and its lending partner CIT Bank change without notice financing packages promoted as ‘easy’ and ‘preferred’, to include much higher interest rates and hidden charges. The law firm said that it had reviewed hundreds of complaints. Full CNET News report