CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced a settlement on Monday with a Cincinnati Internet-based business and its president to resolve allegations of deceptive business practices.
Form Giant LLC, doing business as Change-My-Address.com and Change-of-Address.us, allegedly charged between $19.95 and $29.95 for consumers to change their addresses. The U.S. Postal Service only charges $1 for change of address services.
Form Giant allegedly programmed its payment information page to obscure the amount the service would cost and created the impression that the cost of services would be limited to the $1 charge assessed by the USPS for address changes. When consumers contacted Form Giant to complain, the company allegedly refused to refund the full amount charged.
In 2013, DeWine and Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson both filed lawsuits against Form Giant and Matthew Riley, the company's president.
"We are holding businesses that violate Ohio's consumer protection laws accountable," DeWine said. "This company deceived consumers into thinking they were paying one dollar for the change of address service, when in reality, they were charged much more."
Under the terms of the settlement, Form Giant and Riley must provide consumers nationwide with refunds from a $3 million national refund pool. Up to 16,000 consumers in Ohio were allegedly impacted by Form Giant.
Form Giant must also disclose the actual full change of address service charges, disclose that its websites are not affiliated with the USPS, and pay attorney costs and fees.
Change-My-Address.com settles with Ohio AG
