Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Sally Beauty Supply Sale Shortcomings

A New York woman has filed a class action lawsuit over a biannual Sally Beauty Supply sale she says falls short of its advertised bargains.

Aileen Goldstein claims Sally Beauty Supply’s twice-a-year “Liter Sale” on big bottles of professional brand shampoos and hair conditioners amounts to fraud because the bottles the store sells don’t actually contain a full liter of the products. Goldstein filed the class action lawsuit against the Texas-based Sally Beauty Supply LLC in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Sept. 26.

The plaintiff is seeking the court’s approval to represent a Class of plaintiffs who bought haircare products during one of the liter sale events anywhere in the United States within the last four years, according to the class action lawsuit.

Sally Beauty Supply is an international chain of 3,700 stores – at least half of those in the United States, the class action lawsuit claims – in 12 countries that sell “up to 8,000 products for hair color, hair care, skin, and nails through proprietary brands such as Ion, Generic Value Products, Beyond the Zone and Silk Elements as well as professional lines such as Wella, Clairol, OPI, Conair and Hot Shot Tools,” the company’s website states.

Twice a year, at least, the stores host what is advertised as a liter sale for haircare products that are said to be one liter in size. Sally Beauty Supply promotes discounted prices in the manner of “By One Get One 50% OFF All Haircare Liters” and “Bioterra and Quantum Hair Care Liters…$9.99,” for example, Goldstein’s class action lawsuit says.

“Unfortunately for consumers, many, or even most of the items offered in the ‘Liter Sale’ are less than a liter,” Goldstein argues.

A liter is comprised of 33.8 ounces. The bottles of shampoo and conditioner sold as liters by Sally Beauty Supply are mostly 32-ounce containers, the class action lawsuit contends.

And while the stores aren’t responsible for manufacturing and labeling the bottles, they are responsible for advertising them to be liters, as Goldstein points out in her complaint. That advertising is intentionally misleading, the class action lawsuit says.

“Consumers are being misled and taken advantage of,” Goldstein claims. As a result, they are “induced to purchase more of the products than they otherwise would had the representations been accurate.”

The company should have been aware of the misleading nature of the promotional materials for the Sally Beauty Supply sale “due to numerous complaints by consumers to its main office over the past several years,” argues the class action lawsuit.

Rather than respond appropriately to these complaints, Sally’s continued with misrepresentations that it was offering sale prices on liter-sized bottles and “took advantage of consumers’ cognitive shortcuts made at the point-of-sale and [of] their trust in defendant, a well-known and respected brand or entity in this sector.”

In light of its actions, Goldstein claims, Sally Beauty Supply is guilty of violating New York consumer protection laws, of committing negligent misrepresentation, breach of express and implied warranty, fraud, and unjust enrichment.

Goldstein is seeking a jury trial and monetary damages for herself and the proposed Class Members.

Have you ever shopped the Sally Beauty Supply sale? Were you surprised to find the bottles of shampoo and conditioner you bought didn’t contain a full liter of product, as advertised? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Lead plaintiff and the proposed Class Members are represented by Spencer Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates PC.

The Sally Beauty Supply Class Action Lawsuit is Aileen Goldstein, et al. v. Sally Beauty Supply LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-04583, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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