Misleading Pricing Lawsuit Alleges Consumers Paid for ‘Free’ Supplements

Allegations of misleading pricing tactics have resulted in a class action lawsuit against Puritan’s Pride, a vitamin and supplemental nutrition company.

Two women filed the misleading pricing complaint in a California federal court. The investigation is ongoing nationwide, though, and not limited to sales in California.

For at least the last four years, the company is accused of running a “Buy One Get One Free” promotion touted as a “limited time offer.” The plaintiffs claim such an ongoing pricing scheme is not really a “sale” but actually reflects the normal sale price of the products.

Marketing efforts such as “Semi-Annual Event Buy 2 Get 3 Free” or “The Best Sale of the Year is Back! Buy 1 Get 2 Free” were misleading because the promotions were not cyclical, but were ever present, according to the plaintiffs.

The company also is accused of building the price of the second product into the cost of the first product, thereby eliminating any savings for the consumer.

Misleading Pricing Lawsuit Accuses False Advertising

“Defendants conceal that their marketing and advertising campaign promising ‘free’ Products is permanent, and intend to induce consumers to make expedited purchases by falsely representing that they can only obtain ‘free’ products if they act quickly. There has been no time in the preceding four years when Defendants were not purportedly giving Products away for ‘free’ under the promotion,” says the misleading pricing complaint.

The misleading pricing class action lawsuit quotes federal guidelines that says companies that promote free products or special sales to consumers “must be made with extreme care to avoid any possibility that consumers will be misled or deceived.”

Puritan’s Pride is accused of violating California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and the False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law.

“This marketing and advertising campaign is intended to induce unsuspecting consumers, including Plaintiffs and members of the Class, into purchasing millions of dollars of Puritan’s Pride branded products at a premium price,” says the misleading pricing complaint.

Puritan’s Pride allegedly was able to gain a larger market share than their competitors due to the misleading marketing campaign that included emails, catalogs and website promotions.

“Defendants knew, or should have known, that the marketing and advertising campaign for the products was false, deceptive and misleading because the ‘free’ products promotion never stopped,” alleges the misleading pricing lawsuit.

Consumers who believed they were obtaining a free item would not think that the company had increased the cost of the first item to cover the cost of the “free” item, rendering it not free at all, the plaintiffs allege.

Plaintiffs accuse Puritan’s Pride of unjust enrichment, which means the company “accepted and retained the economic benefit” by making the plaintiffs believe they were getting a bargain.

“Plaintiffs and members of the Class would either not have paid the full price for the products or not purchased the products had they known that their purchase of the products did not genuinely include additional ‘free’ products,” adds the misleading pricing complaint.

The Misleading Pricing Lawsuit is Case No. 4:17-cv-02536 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Join a Puritan’s Pride Deceptive Marketing Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you purchased vitamins or supplements from Puritan’s Pride anywhere in the nation that were part of a “Buy One Get One Free” offer or a similar promotion, you may qualify to join this Puritan’s Pride class action lawsuit investigation.

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