Four major retailers are being sued by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office for misleading shoppers into believing they were receiving bigger deals than they actually were.
According to the lawsuits filed in L.A. County Superior Court, JCPenney, Sears, Kohl’s, and Macy’s are guilty of “false reference pricing,” an advertising tactic of increasing an item’s apparent discount by listing its “original price” during a sale as higher than it initially sold for.
The deceptive tactic was used on everything from apparel to appliances – Sears allegedly marked down a $1,000.00 Kenmore washer to $649.99, but listed it’s original price as $1179.99.
The lawsuits are seeking civil penalties and injunctions to prevent future deception. All four retailers declined to comment.
You can read more about the suit at The Los Angeles Times.
