The complaint for this class action sues the Dress Barn, Inc., claiming it has engaged in false reference pricing. The complaint explains the offense this way: “False reference pricing occurs when a seller fabricates a false ‘original’ price for a product and then offers that product at a substantially lower price under the guise of a sale.” This leads customers to believe they are getting something of greater value, the complaint says, because the false higher price implies higher quality.
The class for this action is all persons in California who, within the applicable statutory period, bought from Dress Barn’s e-commerce website one or more products at discounts from an advertised reference price and who have not received a refund or credit for their purchases.
The complaint alleges that Dress Barn uses false reference pricing for the clothing and related items sold on its e-commerce website, dressbarn.com. False reference pricing is a violation of both federal and state laws, and the complaint alleges that it “trick[s] consumers into making purchasing decisions based on the advertised reference prices.” Also, the complaint points out that consumers love to feel they’re saving money by getting a bargain on something.
California has strict and detailed laws on “original price” claims. Among other things, they say that a discount from an original price can only be offered for ninety days; then the seller must either return it to its original price or continue selling it at its discounted price but with a disclosure as to when the product was last offered at its full original price.
The Dress Barn website, the complaint claims, offers an “original” price with a strikethrough and then a purported “sale” price. The complaint alleges, “The sale price displayed directly next to the false reference price conveys the ‘deep discount’ at which [Dress Barn] presently offers a product, ostensibly for a limited time.”
“However,” the complaint claims, “the products sold on [Dress Barn’s] e-commerce website are never sold at the price displayed with a strikethrough—the price consumers are led to presume is the full original price. The ‘deep discount’ of products communicated to consumers viewing [Dress Barn’s] e-commerce website constitutes a misrepresentation…”
The complaint claims, “The reference prices listed and advertised on products sold through [Dress Barn’s] e-commerce website are false or severely outdated reference prices, utilized only to perpetuate [Dress Barn’s] false discount scheme.”
According to the complaint, the attorneys for the plaintiff in this case, Jaimie Hernandez, made an investigation that “deployed a sophisticated software program to track each item offered for sale on the dressbarn.com website. [They] tracked the pricing of certain merchandise offered for sale through dressbarn.com [for] various periods from 2020 through the present. … For the duration of the tracking period, each product remained significantly discounted from its reference price.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Dress Barn False “Original” Prices on Merchandise California Complaint
April 15, 2022
The complaint for this class action sues the Dress Barn, Inc., claiming it has engaged in false reference pricing. The complaint explains the offense this way: “False reference pricing occurs when a seller fabricates a false ‘original’ price for a product and then offers that product at a substantially lower price under the guise of a sale.” This leads customers to believe they are getting something of greater value, the complaint says, because the false higher price implies higher quality.
Dress Barn False “Original” Prices on Merchandise California ComplaintCase Event History
Dress Barn False “Original” Prices on Merchandise California Complaint
April 15, 2022
The complaint for this class action sues the Dress Barn, Inc., claiming it has engaged in false reference pricing. The complaint explains the offense this way: “False reference pricing occurs when a seller fabricates a false ‘original’ price for a product and then offers that product at a substantially lower price under the guise of a sale.” This leads customers to believe they are getting something of greater value, the complaint says, because the false higher price implies higher quality.
Dress Barn False “Original” Prices on Merchandise California Complaint