Best Buy, LG Class Action: TV Refresh Rates are Misrepresented

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LG Electronics and Best Buy were hit with a class action lawsuit in Minnesota federal court alleging the companies advertised false refresh rates for certain televisions.

Lead plaintiffs Benjamin and Breann Hudock allege that Best Buy and LG Electronics both misrepresent the refresh times on certain models of television sets causing customers to pay extra for lower quality products.

According to the complaint, TV refresh rates are the number of unique images displayed per second on a set. These rates are measures in Hertz, which means one cycle per second. The higher the refresh rate, the higher the picture quality, say the plaintiffs.

“The refresh rate, or Hz measurement, is a vital specification of a television. Higher refresh rates serve to reduce or eliminate motion blur when fast moving objects or scenes appear on screen. It is somewhat analogous to the shutter speed of a camera—the faster the shutter speed, the better a camera is able to capture a moving object as a still frame, without motion blur. In much the same way, the more often a television can refresh the picture and generate unique images, the better and more clearly a television is able to display moving objects on the screen,” explain the plaintiffs.

According to the class action lawsuit, both Best Buy and LG deliberately mislead consumers into believing that LG’s LED screens have a higher refresh rate than they actually do. The plaintiffs allege that Best Buy provided “untrue specifications” in advertisements for LG televisions.

“The actual refresh rate of LG’s LED televisions are one-half of the refresh rates LG represents in its specifications held out to consumers,” say the plaintiffs. “An LG LED television marketed as ‘120Hz’ has an actual refresh rate of 60Hz and shows 60 unique images per second, an LG LED television marketed as ‘240Hz’ has a refresh rate of 120Hz and shows 120 unique images per second.”

The plaintiffs further claim that LG “hijacked” the use of the Hz as an “accepted and conventional” way to determine TV refresh rates. “Compounding the confusion and deception, the actual and true refresh rate of LG’s televisions are not made readily available, in any medium, to the consumer,” allege the plaintiffs.

“As a consequence of Defendants fraudulent’ scheme, Plaintiffs paid more for LG’s LED televisions than they would have otherwise paid had the accurate refresh rates been disclosed,” the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased an LG LED television advertised as having a “Hz” rating twice as high as its actual refresh rate since May of 2010. The plaintiffs also seek to represent a subclass of consumers who purchased their LG LED TV from Best Buy.

The plaintiffs bring claims of violating New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, unjust enrichment, breach of express and implied warranties, breach of contract, and violation of Minnesota’s Consumer Fraud Act.

The plaintiffs are represented by David M. Cialkowski and Jason R. Lee of Zimmerman Reed; Daniel C. Hedlund and Joseph C. Bourne of Gustafson Gluek;  and Luke P. Hudock of the Hudock Law Group.

The Best Buy LG TV False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Hudock v. LG Electronics U.S.A, et. al., Case No. 0:16-CV-01220-JRT-FLN, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

UPDATE: On Jan. 29, 2018, a Minnesota federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit that alleges certain LG televisions did not have the advertised 120Hz refresh rate.