Customers 'shocked' by hefty Juul settlement payouts

Howard Feinstein wasn't expecting much when he submitted his information to a lawsuit against Juul Labs that accused the vaping company of misleading customers about the addictiveness and safety of their products.

Then more than $3,000 (£2,320) hit his bank account.

"I thought it was fake at first," said the 55-year-old real estate agent, who lives in Washington state. "I was absolutely shocked."

The payment to Mr Feinstein this week was one of more than 800,000 that the company is making to former customers as a result of a more than $300m court settlement finally approved earlier this year.

The payouts range from $15 to more than $10,000, with an average of about $240, said Dena Sharp of the San Francisco law firm Girard & Sharp, who was the lead attorney on the case.

Administrators of the settlement, which involved Juul and tobacco giant Altria, which previously held a sizable stake in the company, started mailing checks late last week. Electronic payments began on Monday.

Ms Sharp said more payments would be sent out over the next few days.

"Please continue to be patient and give us a little bit of time to process these claims," she said.

More than 14 million people submitted claims to the court, of which only about 842,000 were officially validated.

Ms Sharp said the court followed a careful process to winnow the claims, looking for duplicates, signs of fraud and proof of purchase.

About a quarter of the recipients purchased directly from the company, making their eligibility easier to verify, she said.

The lawsuit alleged two things: that Juul customers paid more for the product than they would have had they been provided with accurate information about its addictiveness and safety, and that the products were unlawfully marketed to minors.

The court did not decide whether either firm violated any laws.

In a statement, Juul Labs said they are “pleased to have resolved the vast majority of the company’s past legal issues and are focused on advancing our mission", which they added included reducing the use of their products by underage users.

Many of the people receiving payouts, like Mr Feinstein, have been pleasantly surprised by the sums, and have taken to social media to celebrate their haul.

"The money couldn't have come at a better time so I'm really grateful that they're following through," Mr Feinstein said, adding that he might use some of the money to pay down his credit card debt.

Mr Feinstein said he started smoking cigarettes at the age of 16 and tried multiple methods to quit. Eventually vaping stuck.

For a few years, he was a loyal Juul customer, consuming a pod roughly every three days, and for several months participating in regular surveys the company conducted collecting data about his health and usage.

He eventually switched to other brands because of the cost, he said.

He said he felt that Juul had been unfairly singled out among vaping companies by regulators.

"I am grateful that we got the settlement but I don't think it was fair," he confessed. "Does that make me a hypocrite? I don't know."