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NT$35.37m class action lawsuit filed against Alexander

The Consumers' Foundation (消基會) filed a class action lawsuit against the debt-ridden Alexander Group (亞力山大集團), seeking NT$35.37 million (US$1.1 million) in compensation.

The foundation said consumers were entitled to three times the damages incurred if business operators willfully harmed their customers, according to the Consumer Protection Law (消費者保護法).

"Alexander founder Candy Tang (唐雅君), knowing that the company's financial difficulties could not be solved, still launched promotional activities to recruit new members, which is evidence that Tang meant to cause harm to consumers," foundation chairman Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said yesterday at a media briefing.

Cheng said that, following Alexander's closure on Dec. 10, Tang had failed to provide concrete plans to protect the rights of club members, but sought new buyers to transfer ownership.

"As of Monday, more than 5,000 customers have requested compensation for damages. The filing today [yesterday] is only on behalf of the first 158 customers, whose complaints we have compiled," he said.

On average, each member claimed NT$224,000 in compensation. The total compensation sought by the 5,100 filings will amount to more than NT$1 billion, Cheng said.

In addition, the foundation also filed a class action lawsuit against three of Alexander's credit card issuers, including Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託), National Credit Card Center of ROC (NCCC, 聯合信用卡處理中心) and Citibank, requesting refunds of NT$35.37 million for members' unused services.

The foundation blamed card issuers for not fulfilling their risk management responsibilities.

"The Alexander incident highlights card issuers' lack of emphasis on risk management," foundation deputy secretary-general Yu Kai-hsiung (游開雄) said yesterday.
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