Lamps Plus Class Action Alleges Fake Reference Pricing Scheme

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Lamps Plus was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the company uses a sham discount scheme to dupe customers into thinking they are getting great deals.

Lead plaintiff Harley Seegert says Lamps Plus uses false reference prices to lure customers into thinking they are getting a great deal on their products. However, the references prices are fictitious and the discounts aren’t real, Seegert claims.

“This class action targets Lamps Plus’ s unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practice of advertising fictitious prices and corresponding phantom discounts on their Lamps Plus branded and/or trademarked lines of merchandise,” the Lamps Plus lawsuit states.

According to the class action complaint, Lamps Plus sells lighting, furniture, and home décor both online and at retail locations.

The plaintiff alleges that he purchased a dresser from Lamps Plus in February of this year. At the time, Seegert says he believed the dresser was on sale for $599, marked down from a price of $899; however, alleges the plaintiff, the dresser was never offered for sale at a price of $899.

According to the class action, Lamps Plus advertises its products as “for sale” by using a price tag with a fake “Compare At” price. The plaintiff says the “Compare At” price is marked by an “X” and the tag also lists a discount price and supposed savings.

“[T]he ‘Compare At’ price is a total fiction,” alleges the Lamps Plus class action. “The only stores in which the Lamps Plus branded and/or trademarked merchandise is actually sold is at the Lamps Plus retail stores. Thus, the only market price for the Lamps Plus branded and/or trademarked merchandise is the price at which the merchandise is sold in the Lamps Plus retail stores, since Lamps Plus is the only ‘market’ for Lamps Plus branded and/or trademarked merchandise.”

“[T]he ‘Compare At’ price is false and is used exclusively to induce consumers into believing that the merchandise was once sold at the ‘Compare At’ price and from which the false discount price is derived,” alleges the plaintiff. “Lamps Plus’ s deceptive pricing scheme has the effect of tricking consumers into believing they are receiving a significant deal by purchasing merchandise at a steep discount, when in reality, consumers are paying for merchandise at its regular or original retail price.”

Seegert alleges that he and other consumers would not have purchased Lamps Plus merchandise if they had known the merchandise wasn’t actually on sale. The plaintiff argues that this fraudulent advertising violates California consumer protection laws.

“Through its false and misleading marketing, advertising, and pricing scheme, Lamps Plus violated and continues to violate, California and federal law prohibiting advertising goods for sale as discounted from former prices that are false, and prohibiting misleading statements about the existence and amount of price reductions,” the Lamps Plus class action states.

The plaintiff seeks to represent California consumers who purchased Lamps Plus merchandise since July 5, 2013.

Seegert is represented by Todd D. Carpenter of Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter LLP.

The Lamps Plus False Pricing Class Action Lawsuit is Seegert v. Lamps Plus Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-01602, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On Aug. 24, 2018, Lamps Plus agreed to a class action settlement valued at $16.7 million to end allegations that the retailer used fake reference prices to trick consumers into thinking they were getting a deal.