Puff Bar Sued for False Advertising in Class Action Lawsuit

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Puff Bar Vape Pen Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Jacobo Simkin filed a class action lawsuit against Puff Bar
• Why: claim alleges false advertising and that Pull Plus vape pens do not last for “800 puffs,” but rather last only hours
• Where: The case was filed in New York. Class Members are being sought nationwide, as well as in Florida and New York for separate subclasses

Vape pen manufacturer and retailer Puff Bar deceptively markets and sells Puff Plus vapes, claiming the vape pens last for 800 puffs when they really only last hours, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

The nationwide class action lawsuit was filed in New York on August 25 by lead plaintiff Jacobo Simkin who repeatedly purchased Puff Bar Plus vapes based on the company’s “misleading and fraudulent representation” of their longevity.

Plaintiff Alleges ‘800 Puffs’ Vape Pens Last Only Hours

According to the class action lawsuit, the front label of the Puff Bar Plus packaging, which is conspicuously visible to every consumer at the point of purchase, claims the vape pens last for 800 puffs. However, Puff Bar far out-promises the actual lifespan of the Puff Bar Plus — which in many instances fails within hours after being purchased, Simkin claims.

Simkin, who lives in New York, said in the claim that during the first quarter of 2020 he purchased Puff Bar Plus vapes from various retail stores in New York believing the vapes would afford him the “800 puffs” promised on their packaging.

After his college closed down due to COVID-19 restrictions, he temporarily moved to Miami, where he made additional Puff Bar Plus purchases from local retail stores approximately until August of 2020, the claim states.

The lawsuit states that Simkin initially “became frustrated when his Puff Bar Plus vapes ran out of battery well before 800 puffs.” He said he continued to purchase other Puff Bar Plus vapes because he believed “such failures were the result of one-off manufacturing flukes.”

Simkin said the vape pens often ran out of battery within an hour or two after he first began using them. However, the claim states, after giving the Puff Bar Plus vapes the benefit of the doubt for long enough, he stopped purchasing them altogether when he realized that they failed to live up to their advertising.

According to the claim, Puff Bar knew the vape pens did not live up to their promises as the batteries installed in the vapes were not capable of doing so. 

“Despite its acknowledgment that the Puff Bar Plus cannot reliably provide ‘800 puffs’ due to technical issues unbeknownst to a regular consumer, [the] defendant failed to provide that disclosure anywhere in the Puff Bar Plus packaging,” the class action lawsuit alleges.

Class Action Lawsuit Also Claims Puff Bar Recklessly Disregards Youth Nicotine Epidemic

In addition to its deceptive advertising, Puff Bar also has a reckless disregard for the widespread youth nicotine epidemic, the lawsuit alleges.

The claim states that while e-cigarettes were initially developed to help adults wean off regular cigarette use, manufacturers exploited their already widespread appeal by creating fruit and candy-flavored products, leading to a youth nicotine epidemic. It is estimated that approximately 40 percent of high school students use e-cigarettes.

In an effort to stop the epidemic, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a ban on flavored e-cigarette pods and cartridges. The ban, however, carved out an exemption for disposable e-cigarettes. The class action lawsuit alleges that Puff Bar exploited this loophole to the fullest by launching as a disposable e-cigarette company in 2019, jolting to the top of the market and reaping millions of dollars in the process. 

This is the second time a lawsuit has been filed for this issue. In  July 2020, Massachusetts Attorney General General Maura Healy launched a lawsuit against Puff Bar, accusing the company of violating Massachusetts law by selling flavored tobacco products and making them easily accessible to minors.

“[The] defendant gained a fortune in its quick proliferation of misbranded vapes, all while working around the FDA’s intention to shut down its operations for failing to comply with pre-market authorization requirements,” the claim alleges.

Simkin wants to represent anyone in the U.S. who purchased Puff Bar’s Puff Bar Plus vape pen, and New York and Florida consumers in separate subclasses. He is suing for violation of state trade laws and violations of The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. He seeks certification of the Class, damages, interest, restitution, injunctive relief, attorneys fees and costs, and a jury trial.

Have you ever bought a Puff Bar vape pen? Let us know your experience in the comments section!

Simkin is represented by Adrian Gucovschi of Gucovschi Law, PLLC.

The Puff Bar Vape False Ad Class Action Lawsuit is Simkin v. Puff Bar, Case No. 1:21-cv-07177 in the U.S. District Court For The Southern District Of New York.

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