Deluxe Check Class Action Alleges Fees are Deceptive

A class action accuses Deluxe Corporation, doing business as Deluxe Check Printers, of charging too much for “shipping” or “delivery” fees for boxes of checks. The complaint states that Deluxe sells checks online and through many banks across the U.S., including U.S. Bank in San Diego, Calif., BMO Harris Bank in Chicago, Ill., and Commerce Bank in St. Louis, Mo.

Deluxe charges $8 for “basic: standard delivery,” and tells customers to allow 14 calendar days for printing and delivery, according to the class action lawsuit. The next level of “better: four-day express delivery,” costs $32.45, and “best: checks next day” delivery costs $49.60. The complaint alleges that the “prices of these delivery methods bear no reasonable relationship to and, in fact, greatly exceed Defendant’s costs incurred for delivery; they, therefore, contain improper and unethical profits for Defendant.”

The Deluxe check deceptive shipping fee class action asserts that Deluxe maintains other brand names and websites for ordering checks, such as Checks Unlimited and Check Gallery. Though Deluxe uses the same facilities to manufacture the checks and provides the same delivery methods, the complaint claims the costs of shipping are much less than its Deluxe-brand checks. For example, the standard shipping and handling fee for checks on the Checks Unlimited website is only $3.45, according to the complaint.

“There is no reasonable or ethical explanation for charging much more for shipping or delivery when the checks are Defendant’s Deluxe-brand checks rather than its other brands,” the class action argues. “Since Defendant is certainly not taking a loss on the shipping of checks ordered on the [other] website, the only possible explanation for the discrepancy is that Defendant’s charges for shipping and delivery for brand-name Deluxe checks exceed Deluxe’s costs by at least the amount by which these charges exceed shipping and delivery charges by Deluxe’s discount websites.”

Those excessive shipping fees are “unethical” under rules established by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and according to the complaint, an executive for Deluxe was the chair of the DMA Ethics Policy Committee when those rules were published. The class action also argues that excessive shipping fees are deceptive under state consumer protection laws, because consumers expect shipping and delivery fees to have a reasonable relation to the company’s costs.

Plaintiffs Alexandra Byler, Kay Catlin, and Jennifer Graves all claim that between 2013 and 2015, they purchased checks from Deluxe and were charged excessive fees for standard shipping. They seek to represent a Class of persons in all 50 states and the District of Columbia who purchased Deluxe checks and were charged a fee for shipping or delivery. The class action requests restitution of the excessive shipping fees, as well as punitive damages and an order stopping Deluxe from charging its deceptive fees.

The plaintiffs are represented by Francis “Casey” J. Flynn, Richard S. Cornfeld of the Law Office of Richard S. Cornfeld, and Anthony S. Bruning, Anthony S. Bruning, Jr., and Ryan L. Bruning of The Bruning Law Firm, LLC.

The Deluxe Check Deceptive Shipping Fee Class Action is Alexandra Byler, et al., v. Deluxe Corporation, Case No. 3:16-cv-00493, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.