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04/25/2017

GateHouse settles class-action suit over ‘premium’ publications

From Top Class Actions

Two Massachusetts newspaper subscribers have reached a class action settlement with GateHouse Media LLC and its related publishing companies.

Subscribers who were billed surcharges for certain “Premium Edition” publications by the defendant companies may qualify for benefits under this settlement.

Plaintiffs Steven Keenholtz and Dorothy Guillicksen claim that defendants GateHouse Media LLC and several related publishing businesses failed to properly disclose certain surcharges associated with their publication subscriptions.

The defendants, collectively referred to as GateHouse Media, publish dozens of weekly newspapers. The plaintiffs say they purchased one-year and 26-week subscriptions to these publications from GateHouse Media.

But in addition to sending subscribers the publication they purchased, GateHouse Media also sent them a “premium” monthly magazine called Lens, the plaintiffs say. They allege Lens is packed with advertisements and puff articles, and they claim it has nothing to do with the publications they actually subscribed to.

GateHouse Media allegedly charged these customers $2 per issue of Lens. But instead of billing them for it or offering them a chance to opt out of purchasing Lens, the plaintiffs say GateHouse Media simply shortened the subscription they purchased to cover the cost of Lens. So subscribers who purchased a one-year subscription might end up getting only thirty weeks’ worth of the publication they purchased, the plaintiffs say.

Keenholtz and Guillicksen argue GateHouse Media failed to properly disclose the surcharges associated with its “Premium Edition” publications like Lens, in a way that violates Massachusetts consumer protection laws.

GateHouse Media disputes these allegations and is not required to admit any liability under this class action settlement.

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