That's idiotic. The purpose of a class action is not to return money to customers. You're not entitled to anything at all in a class action because you're not bearing any risk. You're not contributing to the costs, you're not doing any work on behalf of the class, and you're not even taking any steps to solve the problem.
Getting any money back directly is merely an incidental bonus of a cash settlement. The point of a class action is to force a corporation to change a tactic or impose a monetary cost for "bad" behavior. That might be a repair or replacement, a change in policy, or even just a promise not to do it again. When it's a monetary fine, it comes out of their profits, and it might be returned to customers in cash, in credit, or donated to a charity.
The lawyers spent millions of dollars to make that happen, and only get reimbursed when they win or settle. The money they make is separate from the settlement or judgment amount, and the profitable ones pay for the ones that they take and lose. If the company agrees to pay $5 million in costs and $40 million to the class and there are one million customers, then everyone gets $40. That means each person gets $5 less than they might have (assuming they would get anything at all without the lawyers intervening). Big deal. Giving up $5 of your $45 in exchange for zero risk and zero effort is more than a fair trade when the alternative is one million people each spending $500+ to get a smaller sum back.
If you don't like the arrangement, you're welcome to start your own class action and make your own deal with the lawyers as class representative. But if you're just going to sit around and wait for a check in the mail without lifting a finger, then you've got no right to complain. Opt out of the class and pursue your own solution.
