Barbara Carlisle and her parents sued Whirlpool Financial National Banka and Gulf Coast Electronics, claiming that the companies tried to overcharge them $1,200 for two satellite dishes sold door-to-door in 1995.

A sales person told the family that they would have to pay $34 a month for three years, but the contract ran for 4 ½ years, thereby causing them to be overcharged, says the familyâe(TM)s attorney Tom Methvin.

Jurors heard testimony that Whirlpool cheated thousands of other residents out of $8 million by getting them to sign credit card deals that required them to pay as much as 300 percent in interest, even though the advertised rate only 22 percent.

The jury awarded the plaintiffs $975,000 for mental anguish and $580 million in punitive.