A California consumer filed a lawsuit earlier this year against MyPillow for deceptive price advertising. She claims that the pillow never sells for the “regular” price, so the savings promoted are illusory.

*MOUSE PRINT:

But Defendant’s purported “sales” are, in reality, anything but. The substantial “discount” shown to consumers is deceptive and misleading because Defendant’s Products are never sold at the full price represented. Such findings were confirmed through online archives documenting Defendant’s pricing and sale history. Additionally, Defendant has configured its Website in such a manner that a promotional code is trivially available to all consumers, rendering its “promotional code” pricing deal illusory.

The FTC’s Guides Against Deceptive Pricing is clear when it calls out phony regular prices:

If the former price is the actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time, it provides a legitimate basis for the advertising of a price comparison. Where the former price is genuine, the bargain being advertised is a true one. If, on the other hand, the former price being advertised is not bona fide but fictitious—for example, where an artificial, inflated price was established for the purpose of enabling the subsequent offer of a large reduction—the “bargain” being advertised is a false one; the purchaser is not receiving the unusual value he expects.

The consumer’s lawyer also alleges that the company adds on a surprise mandatory junk fee — a shipping protection fee — when the consumer is checking out in violation of California’s Honest Pricing Law [see 29(a)].

The lawyers are seeking money damages, penalties, and an order requiring MyPillow to correct its sale practices. MyPillow recently tried to force the consumer into arbitration, but the judge denied the request.