I am not proud nor ashamed of the check. I did NOT start the suit nor was I an active party to it. I received a post card more than a year ago telling me that I was a "member" of the class (by virtue of purchasing one or more covered mowers during a certain period of time). I could opt out and file my own suit or accept some money from the manufacturers WHO HAD ALREADY THROWN IN THE TOWEL. If I did not take my share of money it would be divided among the other "members." I did not ask the manufacturers to put the money on the table but I would be stupid not to pick it up. And a lot of other folks must feel the same way. The "up to" estimate of the settlement for two riding mowers and one push mower was $185. That tells me a lot more folks than expected decided to take their money.

Hi Sparky,Yes the washer is plugged into a gfi,surged protector.Wife uses tide,all he soap, tried affresh.We still have smelly clothes .Believe me if smelly clothes was the only problem with this machine you would be very lucky.Sparky I have been able in the past 2 years to get the he4t working on the error codes, bad solder joints,worn out flow hose.But this time I was pretty sure the computer board was bad.So the wife and I decided to try the sears smart agreement $279.00 and they guarantee to get the washer working or they will give you $500.00 in store credit towards another washer,plus a 1 year warranty.I know I could get a new board for around $160.00 shipped, But wasn't 100% sure that was the problem and there is a no return policy on electrical parts. Well sears came out and said he thought the cpu was bad and ordered one,With parts and labor it was $400.00 (WOW) with a $500.00 limit on the credit agreement before sears give you the $500.00 in store credit.He couldn't say for sure this would be all it was but that the board has power into it, but not out of if.He wasn't sure about the control board.I new this cause I check this before they came out. after he left I thought I take a look at the circuit board and it does have 2 -22 ohms resistors (181)+(182) on circuit board burnt out.I replaced the 2 resistors on board but they just burn out again whenI plugged it back in. so I hope thats all thats wrong is the cpu unit. We have $1300.00 invested in this washing machine and is 3 years old,We couldn't just put it out for garbage. So we thought we would try the service agreement first.I will post back on this later.Thanks for your interest in this matter this board has been of great help to me on this washing machine.Take care and happy holidays to everyone.Sincerely Craig

Hi dreamgarden, thanks for your reply. Looking at some of the paperwork concerning this lawsuit it says the deadline for returning the form was June 28th. I guess if it's the real deal it will take a few months after that date. We'll be moving again in a few weeks, so I don't know if we'll get a check. ( with the mail forwarding etc...) I have a number for the Hartford claims I can contact them. Thanks for offering the phone #'s.. I'll call this one and see what's going on. It's really not a huge amount of money, I was mostly wondering if anyone else was involved in it and how it turned out for them. Thanks again, and if I we get a check I'll post a follow up.

Class actions serve a very important purpose. They protect the little guy. While the majority only put pennies into one's pocket there are others that help the the individual plaintiffs get proper redress. Individuals can't afford the costs of going after businesses and corporations. Class actions allow a group of people to file a single claim. Class action lawsuits go back to the 1800's. A few decades ago I was part of a class action brought against a unethical lender. I was not the lead plaintiff. As the case proceeded the lender began to use highly intimidating tactics against the plaintiffs. Because of the way I am I became a pit bull on the plaintiff's side. I even got the list of other plaintiff's and called them encouraging them to not fall for the threats. They were some scary people. They sent scary people to knock on doors of the plaintiffs, many who were elderly or had language difficulties. At any rate I ended up with over 20 grand in my pocket. No way would I get that as an individual plaintiff. An honest lawyer would never fight for that pittance. Honest lawyers don't take individual cases for less than X amount of dollars. The ambulance chasers are the ones who say they will, end up costing the client a bunch of filing fees, pocket them and let the case ride out. Side story: One day one of the thugs showed up at my door. I had a Black Lab mix at the time. Mellow dog, wouldn't hurt a flea, but a big boy. Thug approaches door. I open door and tell him to beat it. He tries to tell me he has a dog too, playing the friendly card. I smile and say, "Oh yeah, then you understand that this boy is a schutzhund." Thug says, "What is that?" I reply, "It means that if I give him the signal he goes for the crotch and doesn't let go." Only I used far more colorful words. LOL Thug immediately turns tail and drives off. A few minutes later one of the lawyers for our side lawyer calls. He is laughing his butt off. The defendant's lawyer called him and told them their tale of woe. Tells he definitely wants to keep me on the deposition list.