Best Buy Falsely Advertises Chargers’ Power, Lawsuit Claims

A Georgia customer claims Best Buy illegally boosts the perceived power of its portable chargers by displaying amped-up numbers on the packaging.

Portable chargers, also called power banks, can be charged at a wall outlet and then carried around as an emergency charger for phones, tablets and laptop computers. It’s a handy item to have when those devices run low and no outlets are available.

A power bank’s charging ability is measured in milliampere-hours (mAh). The greater the mAh, the more juice it can hold. Consumers will pay more for power banks with a higher mAh because they don’t need to be recharged as often.

In her Best Buy class action lawsuit, plaintiff Kyntasha Robinson states that she bought an Insignia 8000 charger from a Georgia store in November 2018.

In making her purchasing decision, she says she relied on the representations made on the package that it was capable of 8,000 mAh. However, she found she had to recharge the device more often than she expected.

She hired a laboratory to perform tests on random Insignia 8000 and 2600 chargers. The lab reportedly found that both products consistently failed to provide the mAh advertised. The 2,600 mAh products registered between 1,500 and 1,600 mAh, while the 8,000 mAh products tested in the 5,850s.

Best Buy also sells chargers with representations of 12,000, 15,000 and 20,000 mAh. Those products were not tested by the lab Robinson hired.

The Best Buy class action lawsuit explains that a power bank contains internal battery cells and a circuit board that converts their charge to the correct voltage for whatever device it is charging. This conversion and distribution process reduces the amount of mAh that’s actually delivered to the device being charged.

“On information and belief, Best Buy bases its mAh representations on the capacity of the internal cells,” the Best Buy class action state. “Best Buy’s Products are therefore incapable of delivering the full advertised mAh to recharge a consumer’s [personal electronic device].”

This also means the company knows its power banks are “technologically incapable of delivering the amount of mAh Best Buy represents,” Robinson argues in the Best Buy class action lawsuit.

The international consumer electronics retailer has more than 1,000 stores across the United States. The company also is a key player in the $15 billion-a-year power bank industry, selling other brands in addition to its own Insignia label.

“By deceiving consumers about the products’ mAh, Best Buy is able to sell more of, and charge more for, the products than it could if they were labeled accurately,” the Best Buy class action lawsuit maintains.

“Further, Best Buy is incentivized to mislead consumers to take away market share from competing products, thereby increasing its own sales and profits.”

In July 2019, Robinson’s counsel sent Best Buy a letter addressing its alleged deceptive acts, but the company has not remedied the situation.

In the Best Buy class action lawsuit, Robinson is requesting certification of two plaintiff Classes: one restricted to consumers who purchased the products in her home state of Georgia, and one covering purchasers in Georgia plus 11 other states: California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington.

Robinson labels the company’s acts and practices “immoral, unethical, oppressive and unscrupulous.” She is claiming violations of Georgia’s Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Unfair Business Practices Act, breach of warranty and unjust enrichment.

Additionally, on behalf of the multistate Class, she cites violations of the other states’ consumer protection statutes:

• The California Consumer Legal Remedies Act
• The California Unfair Competition Law
• The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act
• The Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act
• The Massachusetts Regulation of Business Practices for Consumers’ Protection Act
• The Michigan Consumer Protection Act
• The Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act
• The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act
• The New York Deceptive Acts and Practices Act
• The North Carolina Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act
• Ohio’s Consumers Sales Practice Act
• The Washington Consumer Protection Act

She is asking for court orders requiring “proper, complete and accurate labeling” of the products and enjoining Best Buy’s “unlawful and deceptive acts and practices.” In addition, on behalf of the proposed Class Members, she is seeking full restitution, court costs and any further relief deemed appropriate by the court.

Did you buy a power bank from Best Buy? Let us know in the comments below.

Robinson is represented by E. Michelle Drake and Joseph C. Hashmall of Berger Montague PC; William F. Cash III, Matthew D. Schultz and Brenton J. Goodman of Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor PA; and D. Greg Blankinship of Finkelstein, Blankinship Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP.

The Best Buy Power Banks Class Action Lawsuit is Kyntasha Robinson, et al. v. Best Buy Co. Inc., Case No. 0:20-cv-01470, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

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