When is a bargain not a bargain? When the advertised “Original Price” is fake, the complaint for this class action alleges. It claims that Udemy, Inc. advertises “fictitious ‘original’ prices and corresponding phantom discounts on its e-commerce website, Udemy.com.
The class for this action is all persons in the US who, between August 23, 2017 and the present, bought one or more products from Udemy’s website at discounts from an advertised reference price, and who have not received a refund or credit for the purchase.
A business engages in false reference pricing when it invents a false “original” price for a product, then pretends to have a “sale” with the product going for a lower price.
The complaint alleges, “The result is an artificial price disparity that misleads consumers into believing that the product they are buying has a higher value than has been established by the market and induces them into making a purchase.” This enables retailers to sell products above their true market price and value. However, it also violates federal and state laws.
Udemy offers online courses on various topics, such as web design and time management, at its website. It shows an original price, a discount percentage, and a purported sale price. The original price is a false reference price, the complaint alleges, and is displayed with a strikethrough. The complaint alleges, “The sale price is displayed directly next to the false reference price and discount percentage, thus conveying the ‘deep discount’ at which the product is presently being offered, ostensibly for a limited time.”
But the complaint alleges that the courses are never sold at the full price: “The original price merely serves as a false reference price utilized by [Udemy] as part of a larger scheme to deceptively manufacture deep discounts in an effort to incentivize consumers to make purchases.”
Exhibit A, attached to the original complaint at filing, shows a product called “The Web Developer Bootcamp” which has an “original price” of $199.99. It is advertised as being “94% off,” with a sale price of $10.99. “Frequently,” the complaint claims, “this appears above prominent red text intended to signal the fast-approaching end of the sale, which also can be seen in Exhibit A as ‘5 hours left at this price!’”
Also in Exhibit A are images from the Wayback Machine, an Internet archive, showing the false reference pricing, including the above product.
The complaint alleges that the counsel for this class action tracked the pricing for certain courses at various points between 2019 and 2021. It says, “For the duration of the tracking period, each product remained significantly discounted from its reference price. Additionally, none of the products were ever offered for sale at their respective advertised reference price. The investigation indicated that the false reference pricing scheme was uniform across [Udemy’s] e-commerce website.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Udemy Courses False Reference Prices Complaint
August 23, 2021
When is a bargain not a bargain? When the advertised “Original Price” is fake, the complaint for this class action alleges. It claims that Udemy, Inc. advertises “fictitious ‘original’ prices and corresponding phantom discounts on its e-commerce website, Udemy.com.
Udemy Courses False Reference Prices ComplaintCase Event History
Udemy Courses False Reference Prices Complaint
August 23, 2021
When is a bargain not a bargain? When the advertised “Original Price” is fake, the complaint for this class action alleges. It claims that Udemy, Inc. advertises “fictitious ‘original’ prices and corresponding phantom discounts on its e-commerce website, Udemy.com.
Udemy Courses False Reference Prices Complaint