In the past, we have talked about class action lawsuits where it is alleged that a clothing retailer used inflated regular prices to give customers the impression that their products were currently being offered at a great, low sale price. Now come two straight-shooting Texas consumers claiming that The Home Depot has been making exaggerated savings claims too by jacking up the so-called “regular” price of major appliances to levels at which they never or rarely ever sold. (See lawsuit.)
One of the consumers bought a Samsung gas dryer for $798 — that he thought was at a 33-percent discount from the $1199 “strikethrough” price. The other consumer bought a top loading Samsung washer for $578 that he was led to believe was usually $899. In the seven months since he purchased the washer, for example, his lawyers say it never sold for the $899 “regular” price.
In fact, they checked a variety of major appliances at Home Depot tracking their prices for months.
*MOUSE PRINT:
In this example, they tracked a washer like this one for four months. At no time in their checks was it ever off-sale or close to the $999 so-called regular price shown.
The lawyers say that The Home Depot engaged in unfair business practices, misrepresentations, and broke a specific regulation that specifically prohibits sellers from “making false or misleading statements concerning the reasons for, existence of, [and] amounts of price reductions.”
Time will tell if this case has legs, although MrConsumer has little doubt that the company uses strikethrough higher prices to make shoppers think they are getting a bargain.
sneaky sneaky sneaky…
Caveat Empty savings.
This is not news. It has been going on for decades, with many if not most stores doing this. I believe it is illegal in most states.
You need to compare prices at several retailers to find out what the product is really worth.Don’t take the word of any seller.Do your homework or just play dumb and get ripped off.Same for autos,appliances or anything.
I agree with Jon. As long as the product isn’t a home brand, it’s very easy to check other retailers selling the same make and model. If the price is close to what other retailers are selling, then that’s not a problem. But inflating the regular price to make the savings look attractive is very unethical.
Checking prices externally is now more important than ever.
I know camelcamelcamel.com does price tracking on Amazon, but I’m sure there are others.
This looks like a clear cut case of false original pricing. 4 months of tracked pricing is pretty damning evidence.
While I agree that the inflated ‘original’ price is deceptive,, did the purchasers get a good deal? If the price they paid was in line with other stores, then there seems to be no monetary damages. They took the deal and bought the appliances at the ‘sale’ price. They may feel a bit embarrassed that they believed the supposed savings.
If their friends ask what they paid, they can tell them their price and that it was a good deal for them.
TJMaxx and Marshalls (and others) always have a “compare to” price and the stores price is always half of the compare price. Amazing how that works…
I want in on this lawsuit because I’ve even called home Depot out on this to their corporate office. And I’m currently seeking my own judgement.
Local grocery stores (Albertsons/Safeway, Kroger/Fred Meyer, probably others) do something like this nearly every week. Meat items (chicken, pork chops, beef etc) that are (for example) 3.99/lb get put on bogo sale at 6.99 or 7.99/lb. Probably other products as well, but I just notice it at the meat counter. Gotta wonder whether they really think people are that dumb…or if people actually are that dumb…or if it’s an astonishingly effective way to make a profit off the people that don’t want 2 of something.
sadly people are that dumb. here is an example.. we have cumberland farms gas stations. the advertise .10 a gallon difference if your a member. however just down the street is a citgo station… no difference if member or not..just .42¢ a gallon cheaper.. yet citgo is empty and CF is packed., i just laugh..
Someone needs to take a look at Amazon…