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The Men’s Wearhouse Inc. and its successor company Tailored Brands Inc. were hit Monday with a class action lawsuit alleging they impose late return fees that are void and unenforceable under California law.
The Men’s Wearhouse rents formalwear such as suits, vests, tuxedos, shoes, shirts, pants, ties and other clothing and accessories to customers.
Customers who wish to rent formalwear must enter into a rental agreement, which imposes a late return fee of $20 per day when a customer returns a garment after the scheduled due date.
Plaintiff Anthony Smith claims these Men’s Wearhouse late fees are void and unenforceable under California law. The Men’s Wearhouse class action lawsuit also alleges the late fees are unlawful under California’s Unfair Competition Law and unconscionable under the state’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act.
Smith claims he rented formalwear from California Men’s Wearhouse stores in August 2016 and entered into the company’s rental agreement.
According to the Men’s Wearhouse class action lawsuit, the late return provision in the rental agreement states: “Late fee will be accrued daily and charged in a lump sum, upon the receipt of the late garments, up to the full replacement cost of the applicable garment. If a garment is returned more than 21 days late, customer will be charged the full replacement cost.”
Smith says he paid multiple late fees pursuant to this agreement.
The late fees constitute impermissible liquidated damages provisions under California law, the Men’s Wearhouse alleges. Smith argues that the $20 fee is unrelated to any potential harm Men’s Wearhouse might suffer from the late return, and that the late fee constitutes an impermissible contractual penalty.
Further, Men’s Wearhouse “intentionally, knowingly, and unlawfully perpetrated harm” upon Smith and putative Class Members by including the unenforceable late fee provisions in the rental agreements, Smith alleges.
“The gravity of the harm to all consumers from Defendants’ policies and practices far outweighs any purported utility those policies and practices have,” the Men’s Wearhouse class action lawsuit says.
Smith also says the Men’s Wearhouse late fees are “unconscionable” because customers do not have a meaningful choice about the inclusion of the late fees or the amount of the fee.
“The Late Fees are unreasonably favorable to Defendants and unduly harsh with respect to Defendants’ customers, and therefore, are substantively unconscionable,” Smith says in the Men’s Wearhouse class action lawsuit. “For example, the Late Fees have no relationship whatsoever to any damages incurred by Defendants, if any, as a result of late returns by customers.”
The Men’s Wearhouse class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of Smith and a proposed Class of consumers who paid one or more late fees imposed by Men’s Wearhouse pursuant to the rental agreement entered into at a Men’s Wearhouse location in California.
Smith is represented by Scott A. Bursor, L. Timothy Fisher, Joel D. Smith and Yeremey O. Krivoshey of Bursor & Fisher PA, and by Frank S. Hedin and David W. Hall of Hedin Hall LLP.
The Men’s Wearhouse Late Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Anthony Smith v. The Men’s Wearhouse Inc., et al., Case No. 4:18-cv-02840-DMR, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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12 thoughts onMen’s Wearhouse Class Action Challenges Late Return Fees
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Just love it when people “add me”. To me it is perfectly reasonable for them to charge a late fee. You return it the next day, not when you feel like it. They can not rent it to anyone else as long as you have it.
Absolutely AGREE with you !! Men’s Warehouse is being deprived of use, of their OWN property, should the specific type of Tuxedo were to have been scheduled for an upcoming Wedding Party. How F’in LAZY does someone have to be in the simple return of a Tuxedo ? I’ve been in the position to have had to rent a Tuxedo about 10 time’s. When it was for a wedding.. it seemed like the rule of thumb was for the Best Man to collect them, along with the cooperation of the Usher’s assisting in getting theirs into his possession. Kind of like how NORMAL people DO thing’s !!!
I was late on one occasion. However, it was due to logistics. I rented it in Boston, where I was living, for an event in Newport, RI. I spent the weekend there and stayed an extra day. So, I was 1 day late & gladly payed the fee. BTW, when picking it up, I did mention that this might possibly occur and if they had another location, closer to Newport, that I could drop it off at on Monday. Why did I ask? Because I have enough common sense to understand how that type of rental business work’s!
This is NOT rocket science here, WTF is wrong with some of these people ?? I come here for a few reasons in specific.. it started with the BofA Overcharging on Overdraft fees based on a person’s CREDIT SCORE… which affected me personally.. then, it was a CAct vs a Big Pharma Company that specifically played “some games”, in regards to a medication that I was taking for 9 years, which in conjunction with 2 other meds, totally changed my life !! I couldn’t begin to explain here how significant that 1 med made in the betterment of EVERY facet in my life !! What this Co. did was disgusting !! They kept raising the price on a monthly basis, on 1 occasion raising the price 75% in a 30 day period. That’s when my prescription plan decided to not cover this med for my diagnosis!! NO warning, NO back up plan, since they still had the pattern, there was no Generic version available. Fast forward 6 weeks after my last dose. I lost my job of 9 year’s as a Therapist, I couldn’t afford my living arrangement and had to move back in with my mother. Then came 2 failed suicide attempts, which eventually led to about 18 months of inpatient, sometimes locked units, Mental Health Facilities !! Which, from the bills I had access to, amounted to at least 480K + dollars. Which WAS paid by my Insurance.. You would think that it might have been so less expensive to have paid the greedy Big Pharma Co. that was taking advantage of the MANY people that were in the same situation as I was ??
Sorry for the book I started here.. It’s just that, when I read the BS nature of this ridiculous, frivolous, baseless, and meaningless claim and then compare it to the MANY horror stories out there that are going on as we speak.. THIS garbage is actually being addressed !! As well as other suit’s, like suing a baseball bat company, because their bat didn’t weigh as much as they claimed it did ? WTF?
LMAO.. I’m sure it must have been a life changing event…
In this great Tuxedo caper…I hope that the Judge THROWS out this WASTE of the Court’s time… He wasn’t able to return his Tux on time, I’ll bet that he arrives at ANY Court proceeding that he’s required to about an HOUR EARLY !!?
One more thing…
DON’T ADD ME ‼️
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It’s people like these that make me sick. When you agree to something, you should hold up your part of the bargain.
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