Nautilus, Inc. makes treadmills under the Nautilus, Schwinn, and Bowflex brand names. The complaint for this class action claims that Nautilus “has ‘out-spec’ed’ its competition with false and misleading horsepower ratings intended to lure consumers into purchasing its treadmills and paying an inflated price based on the horsepower misrepresentations.” The complaint alleges breaches of warranties, among other things.
The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons in the US who bought a Nautilus-made treadmill during the maximum period of time permitted by law, primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and not for resale. There is also an Ohio Class or Subclass, for persons in Ohio.
Horsepower ratings are one of the things that consumers can use to compare the performance of different treadmills. The complaint alleges that Nautilus “represents on its websites, marketing materials, and in store displays at third-party retailers … that the treadmills have a specific power output, quantified in continuous horsepower (‘CHP’)[] that they cannot product during household usage.”
According to the complaint, the Nautilus treadmills are rated at between 2.6 and 4.0 CHP, and the price for the different models “is in direct relationship to” the CHP rating advertised. Yet the complaint alleges, “All of [Nautilus’s] treadmills operate in household use well below [Nautilus’s] continuous horsepower representations and all maintain similar continuous horsepower regardless of the misrepresented CHP.”
The complaint adds that “it is not possible for these Treadmills to operate a continuous horsepower of 4.0 or even 2.6 CHP when plugged into a standard 120-volt, 15-amp outlet found in residential homes in the United States.”
The complaint reviews details about horsepower, then concludes that it is not possible for the treadmills to product the advertised power output: “[Nautilus’s] Treadmills are rated at 15 amps with a 120-volt circuit, which equates to a theoretical maximum output power of 1,800 watts or 2.41 horsepower without taking into consideration the motor’s efficiency or power factor. Heat and other factors also decrease efficiency, which would further decrease the power output of the motor nearly fifty percent (50%).”
Devices cannot draw more power than the circuit that it is connected to designed for. If a device were to try to do so, the circuit breaker would trip and cut the power to the device.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Nautilus Treadmills Continuous Horsepower Claims Complaint
July 7, 2020
Nautilus, Inc. makes treadmills under the Nautilus, Schwinn, and Bowflex brand names. The complaint for this class action claims that Nautilus “has ‘out-spec’ed’ its competition with false and misleading horsepower ratings intended to lure consumers into purchasing its treadmills and paying an inflated price based on the horsepower misrepresentations.” The complaint alleges breaches of warranties, among other things.
Nautilus Treadmills Continuous Horsepower Claims ComplaintCase Event History
Nautilus Treadmills Continuous Horsepower Claims Complaint
July 7, 2020
Nautilus, Inc. makes treadmills under the Nautilus, Schwinn, and Bowflex brand names. The complaint for this class action claims that Nautilus “has ‘out-spec’ed’ its competition with false and misleading horsepower ratings intended to lure consumers into purchasing its treadmills and paying an inflated price based on the horsepower misrepresentations.” The complaint alleges breaches of warranties, among other things.
Nautilus Treadmills Continuous Horsepower Claims Complaint