Consumers love bargains. But the complaint for this class action alleges that some companies put false “original” prices on items they sell to make customers imagine they are getting a bargain even when they are not. The complaint brings suit against Old Copper Company, Inc., formerly known as JC Penney Company, Inc., and Penney OpCo, LLC for engaging in a process called false reference pricing.
The class for this action is all persons whom within the applicable statutory period of time, bought from these companies’ e-commerce website jcpenney.com 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 describes false reference pricing 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.” The false original price makes consumers think the item is worth more than it is and induces them to buy the item at the lower price. These fake discounts are sometimes called phantom discounts.
The complaint alleges that both federal and California law forbid advertising goods at discounts from false original prices. “Under California law,” the complaint alleges, “a seller may only discount an item from its own original price for up to 90 days; or in the alternative, a seller may offer a discount from the original price of an item being offered by a competitor … for up to 90 days.”
Similarly, under the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), the complaint alleges, when a seller offers a discount from its own, former original price, the original price is required to have been a price at which the seller held that item out for sale on a regular basis, for a commercially reasonable period of time.”
In this case, the complaint claims, the company lists products with a fictitious “original” price with a strikethrough, a lower “sale” price, and even an indication of “___% off” from the “original” price. But the complaint asserts that the company is deceiving consumers because the items were never sold at the “original” price and so are not actually discounted.
How do we know? The complaint alleges that the plaintiff’s attorneys in this case used a software program that tracked the prices of certain items on the jcpenney.com website over various periods.
According to the complaint, “For the duration of the tracking period, each product remained significantly discounted from its reference price. … The investigation indicated the false reference pricing scheme was uniform across [the companies’] e-commerce website.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Old Copper Company False Reference Pricing Complaint
February 13, 2023
Consumers love bargains. But the complaint for this class action alleges that some companies put false “original” prices on items they sell to make customers imagine they are getting a bargain even when they are not. The complaint brings suit against Old Copper Company, Inc., formerly known as JC Penney Company, Inc., and Penney OpCo, LLC for engaging in a process called false reference pricing.
Old Copper Company False Reference Pricing ComplaintCase Event History
Old Copper Company False Reference Pricing Complaint
February 13, 2023
Consumers love bargains. But the complaint for this class action alleges that some companies put false “original” prices on items they sell to make customers imagine they are getting a bargain even when they are not. The complaint brings suit against Old Copper Company, Inc., formerly known as JC Penney Company, Inc., and Penney OpCo, LLC for engaging in a process called false reference pricing.
Old Copper Company False Reference Pricing Complaint