TeamGroup has agreed to pay approximately $1.1 million to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit related to potentially misleading speed claims for DDR3, DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The plaintiffs claim that the company’s product labels unfairly present speeds such as DDR5-8800. In effect, the move is considered misleading advertising. Customers believe that memory should operate at these speeds right out of the box, without any additional settings in the motherboard BIOS.
In reality, the speeds claimed on TeamGroup kits require a few modifications to the bios, such as the activation of EXPO or XMP profiles. All in all, a trivial operation for enthusiasts. However, according to the plaintiffs, the company failed to explicitly communicate this condition, which would constitute a breach of consumer protection laws. TeamGroup, for its part, rejected the charge of wilful deception, stating that their products were correctly labeled and functioned in accordance with their specifications.
TeamGroup also accused of deceptive practices
It’s not the first time that these stories of RAM profiles have stirred up the courts in the USA, and that the incriminated companies have agreed to settle in order to avoid lengthy, costly and above all image-damaging proceedings. Corsair and G.Skill have agreed to pay $5.5 million and $2.4 million respectively. The plaintiffs in these two cases claim that the average consumer is largely unaware of the need to set up bios configuration steps in order to achieve the advertised speed of their product.
People who acquired DDR3, DDR4 or DDR5 memory from TeamGroup during the relevant period are entitled to compensation, the amount of which will vary according to the total number of claims. A total of $1.1 million will be distributed among claimants who have submitted a valid claim. Each household can obtain compensation for up to five memory products without having to present proof of purchase. TeamGroup has also been forced to modify its packaging to clarify the need to adjust BIOS settings.
In view of the increasing number of such procedures, it would not be surprising if RAM bar manufacturers regularly indicated XMP and EXPO settings on their packaging in future, in order to avoid potential litigation.
