DKNY Uses Fake Sales to Trick Customers Into Buying Clothes, Class Action Alleges

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DKNY Fake Sales Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who:  A California consumer has served The Donna Karan Company Store LLC with a class action lawsuit. 
• What: The retailer, which operates DKNY stores, is accused of marking clothing items as “on sale” to trick people into thinking they’re getting a bargain, when the item was never sold at the fake “original price.”
• Where: The lawsuit was lodged in California federal court. 

Bargain-hunters who think they’re getting a great deal from retailer DKNY might actually be being tricked into buying items at inflated prices, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Matilda Dahlin filed the class action complaint against The Donna Karan Company Store LLC (DKNY) Tuesday in a California federal court, alleging that the company is using fake discounts and sales to entice customers to buy more clothes.

She alleges that DKNY knows Americans thrive on finding the best deal, and the retailer capitalizes on that fact by trying to lure consumers to purchase their goods with advertised sales that promise huge savings off the regular price.

“The practice of false reference pricing occurs when a retailer fabricates a false ‘original’ price, and then offers an item for sale at a deeply ‘discounted’ price,” the lawsuit says.

“The result is a sham price disparity that misleads consumers into believing they are receiving a good deal and induces them into making a purchase.” 

DKNY Dupes Consumers With Sham Sales Prices

Dahlin says she herself was tricked into thinking she was getting a deal from DKNY when she went shopping at a DKNY outlet store in California. She chose three items that claimed they were marked down by 40 percent from the original price. 

“After observing the ‘original price’ of the items and the accompanying sale prices, Plaintiff believed she was receiving a significant discount on the items she had chosen,” the class action states. 

She bought the items for $120.22, thinking they were previously available at DKNY retail stores or other retail stores at the advertised “original prices.” 

“However, the products Plaintiff purchased were never offered for sale at the reference price listed on the price tags, and certainly not within the 90 days preceding,” the lawsuit alleges.

Dahlin says she was also unaware that the products were manufactured for sale exclusively at the outlet stores and were never sold anywhere else.

She’s looking to represent anyone who purchased items from a California DKNY outlet store at a purported discount from an advertised “reference” price and who have not received a refund or credit. 

Dahlin is seeking certification of the class action, restitution, an injunction, an order forcing DKNY to engage in a corrective advertising campaign, fees, costs and a jury trial.

DKNY is not the only retailer accused of using this deceptive marketing technique. Indeed, Calvin Klein was hit with a similar class action lawsuit this week accusing the retailers of using fictitious reference prices and corresponding phantom discounts on branded outlet merchandise sold in outlet stores.

Lenovo is also facing a similar class action lawsuit, in which it is accused of displaying fake regular prices and false sale discounts on its website in order to increase the perceived value of its computer products.

Have you ever been tricked into buying something on sale that was never listed at its “original price”? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Todd D. Carpenter and Scott G. Braden of CARLSON LYNCH LLP 

The DKNY Fake Sale Price Class Action Lawsuit is Dahlin, et al., v. The Donna Karan Company, et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-07711, in the U.S. District Court Central District of California.

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