Sihler et al. v. Global e-Trading LLC dba Chargebacks911 et al.

The records of a company that shipped Ultra Fast Keto Boost, InstaKeto, and Instant Keto to purchasers show that you were shipped three or five bottles of pills during the time period at issue in the lawsuit. The notice explains that the Court has allowed, or “certified,” a class action lawsuit that may affect you. You have legal rights and options that you may exercise before the Court holds a trial. The trial is to decide whether the claims being brought in this lawsuit on your behalf are correct. Judge Virginia Covington of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida is overseeing this class action. The lawsuit is known as Sihler et al. v. Global e-Trading LLC dba Chargebacks911 et al., No. 8:23-CV-01450-VMC-UAM, and it is currently pending in the Middle District of Florida.

This lawsuit is about whether the Defendants—a financial services company called Chargebacks911, its CEO, and its former CEO—conspired to, or actually did, devise or implement a scheme designed to help the Keto Products’ marketers and sellers keep an allegedly fraudulent online diet pill scheme hidden from banks and payment processors. The lawsuit alleges that Class Members ordered three- or five-bottle bundles of Keto diet pills which were misleadingly advertised as containing a free bottle(s) of pills. This allegedly false advertising was done by the Keto Products’ marketers who are not parties in this case. This lawsuit alleges that Chargebacks911 endeavored to help the entities making these alleged false pricing representations maintain their access to favorable payment processing by facilitating the entities’ involvement in a scheme to fraudulently deflate their chargeback rate. Chargeback rates are a metric banks and payment processors use in deciding whether to do business with merchants. The lawsuit seeks damages and restitution, a civil penalty of three times those damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs. Defendants deny they did anything wrong.

In a class action lawsuit, one or more people called “Class Representatives” (in this case Janet Sihler and Charlene Bavencoff) sue on behalf of other people who have similar claims. The people together are a “Class” or “Class Members.” The consumers who sue—and all the Class Members like them—are called the Plaintiffs. The companies and people they sue are called the Defendants. One court resolves the issues for everyone in the Class, except for those people who choose to exclude themselves from the Class.

The Court decided this lawsuit can be a class action and move towards a trial because it meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, which governs class actions in federal courts. Specifically, the Court found that

• there are numerous people in the Class;
• all of the Class’s claims present legal questions and factual issues that are common to all Class Members;
• Janet Sihler and Charlene Bavencoff’s claims are typical of the claims of the rest of the Class;
• Ms. Sihler and Ms. Bavencoff and the lawyers representing the Class will fairly and adequately represent the Class’s interests;
• the common legal questions and facts are more important than questions that affect only individuals; and
• this class action will be better than having many individual lawsuits.

More information about why the Court is allowing this lawsuit to be a class action is in the Court’s Order Certifying the Class, available here.

In the lawsuit, the Plaintiffs say Chargebacks911 broke the federal racketeering law, RICO, by working to fraudulently lower the “chargeback ratio” of the merchants selling Keto Products using alleged pricing misrepresentations. Chargebacks911, Plaintiffs allege, did this by advising the Keto Products’ sellers about how to structure the backend of their business and pointing them towards a “microtransactions” scheme which all three Defendants allegedly conspired to develop. A “chargeback” occurs when a consumer disputes a credit or debit card transaction with their bank or credit card company. If too high a percentage of consumers chargeback transactions from a given merchant, that merchant’s chargeback rate—or the ratio of chargebacks against the merchant’s total number of transactions—may exceed limits imposed by card networks like Visa and Mastercard. A too-high chargeback rate can have negative consequences for merchants, up to and including the loss of the ability to process card payments. Plaintiffs claim Defendants devised a scheme whereby merchants like those who sold the Keto Products could artificially lower their apparent chargeback rates by intentionally running a high volume of very low-dollar transactions, or “microtransactions,” on their own accounts. Plaintiffs claim Chargebacks911 helped the Keto Products’ sellers to implement such a scheme. You can read the Plaintiffs’ Class Action Complaint here.

Defendants deny they did anything wrong. Defendants maintain they are a reputable technology platform company that supports merchants with tools and services to aid merchants in more efficiently managing workflows related to dispute inquiries and chargebacks. Defendants state they had no knowledge that the Keto Products’ sellers were engaging in any fraud, and that Defendants’ service in no way facilitated any customer’s injury. The Defendants’ Answer to the Complaint is available here.

The Court hasn’t decided whether the Defendants or the Plaintiffs are correct. By establishing the Class and issuing the Notice, the Court is not suggesting that the Plaintiffs will win or lose this case. The Plaintiffs must prove their claims at a trial.

The Plaintiffs are asking for restitution, a civil penalty of three times those damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

No money or benefits are available now because the Court has not yet decided whether the Defendants did anything wrong, and the two sides have not settled the case. There is no guarantee that money or benefits will ever be obtained. If they are, you will be notified about how to ask for a share.

Judge Covington decided that “[a]ll consumers in the United States who, within the applicable statute of limitations period until the date notice is disseminated, were billed for shipments of either three bottles or five bottles of Ultra Fast Keto Boost, InstaKeto, or Instant Keto” are Class Members except for those who received a full refund for the supposedly “free” products for which they were allegedly improperly charged.

Yes. Those who were billed for a three-bottle bundle of Keto Products who have received a full refund of the cost of the one bottle Plaintiffs claim was advertised as “free” are not part of the Class. Likewise, those who were billed for a five-bottle bundle who have received a full refund of the cost of the two bottles Plaintiffs claim were advertised as “free” are not part of the Class. Further, those who were billed for Ultra Fast Keto Boost, InstaKeto, or Instant Keto products but did not buy a three- or five-product bundle are not part of the Class. For example, if you bought a single bottle of Ultra Fast Keto Boost, then you would not be part of the Class.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can get free help by calling or writing to the Class Action Administrator. The phone number to call is 1-888-884-1627. To write, you may email info@ketochargebacklawsuit.com or send a letter to Keto Chargeback Class Action Administrator, P.O. Box 5053, Portland, OR 97208-5053.

You don’t have to do anything now if you want to keep the possibility of getting money or benefits from this lawsuit. By doing nothing, you are staying in the Class. If you stay in the Class and the Plaintiffs obtain money or benefits—either as a result of the trial or a settlement—you will be notified about how to apply for a share (or how to ask to be excluded from any settlement). Keep in mind that if you do nothing now, regardless of whether the Plaintiffs win or lose the trial, you will not be able to sue or continue to sue the Defendants in this lawsuit in any other lawsuit about the same legal claims that are the subject of this case. You will also be legally bound by all of the orders the Court issues and judgments the Court makes in this class action.

If you already have your own lawsuit against any of the Defendants asserting claims related to those at issue in this lawsuit and want to continue with it, you need to ask to be excluded from the Class. If you exclude yourself from the Class—which also means to remove yourself from the Class, and is sometimes called “opting out” of the Class—you won’t get any money or benefits from this lawsuit, even if the Plaintiffs obtain them as a result of the trial or from any settlement (that may or may not be reached) between any or all of the Defendants and the Plaintiffs. However, you may then be able to sue or continue to sue Defendants for claims related to those at issue in this lawsuit. If you exclude yourself, you will not be legally bound by the Court’s judgments in this class action.

If you start your own lawsuit against Defendants after you exclude yourself, you’ll have to hire and pay your own lawyer for that lawsuit, and you’ll have to prove your claims. If you do exclude yourself so you can start or continue your own lawsuit against Defendants, you should talk to your own lawyer soon because your claims may be subject to a statute of limitations.

To ask to be excluded, you must send an “Exclusion Request” in the form of a letter sent by mail. The letter must state that you want to be excluded from the Class in Sihler et al. v. Global e-Trading LLC dba Chargebacks911 et al. Be sure to include your name and address and to sign the letter.

You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or email. You must do so in writing by mail.

To be valid, your Request for Exclusion must be mailed to the following address and postmarked by December 3, 2024:

Keto Chargeback Class Action Exclusions
P.O. Box 5053
Portland, OR 97208-5053

You may also print out the Exclusion Request Form, available here, complete it, and mail it to the address above to exclude yourself from the Class.

The Court decided that lawyers from the law firms of Kneupper & Covey, PC and Kibbey Wagner, PLLC are qualified to represent you and all Class Members. These lawyers are called “Class Counsel.” More information about these law firms, their practices, and their lawyers’ experience is available at www.kneuppercovey.com and https://kibbeylaw.com, respectively.

You do not need to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel is working on your behalf. If you want your own lawyer, you may hire one. You will have to pay any lawyer you hire. If you hire your own lawyer, you could, for example, ask him or her to appear in court for you if you want someone other than Class Counsel to speak for you.

If Class Counsel get money or benefits for the Class, they may ask the Court for fees and expenses. You won’t have to pay these fees and expenses. If the Court grants Class Counsel’s request, the fees and expenses would be either deducted from any money obtained for the Class or paid separately by the Defendants.

As long as the case isn’t resolved by a settlement or otherwise, Class Counsel will have to prove the Plaintiffs’ claims at a trial. Trial is set to begin on May 5, 2025. Trial will take place in Courtroom 14B of the Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse, 801 North Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33602. During the trial, a jury or the Judge will hear all of the evidence to help them reach a decision about whether the Plaintiffs or the Defendants are right about the claims in the lawsuit. There is no guarantee that the Plaintiffs will win, or that they will get any money for the Class.

You do not need to attend the trial. Class Counsel will present the case for the Plaintiffs, and the Defendants will present the defenses. You or your own lawyer are welcome to come at your own expense.

If the Plaintiffs obtain money or benefits as a result of the trial or a settlement, you will be notified about how to participate. We do not know how long this will take.

More details are available for your review on the Important Documents page here, including the Court’s Order Certifying the Class, Plaintiffs’ Complaint, Defendant’s Answer to the Complaint, as well as other documents relating to the lawsuit. You may also call our toll-free information line 1-888-884-1627, email info@ketochargebacklawsuit.com or write to: Keto Chargeback Class Action Administrator, P.O. Box 5053, Portland, OR 97208-5053.