A California woman is challenging Walmartโs โRollbackโ sale pricing, claiming it uses false original prices to deceive shoppers.
The retail giantโs sale pricing advertised as a โRollbackโ discountย is in many cases false and deceptive because itโs based on purported original prices that are completely fictional, according to the Walmart class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff Brenna Ceja claims Walmart uses this alleged fake sale pricing to increaseย profits. In her complaint, Ceja includes photographs of Walmart โRollbackโ price tags as they appear in retail stores.
In some of these photos, the Walmart โRollbackโ price appears to be the same price as the one on the itemโs original price tag. Yet some of these Walmart โRollbackโ price tags advertise a former price, or โwasโ price, thatโs obviously higher than the โsaleโ price.
Not all items marked with Walmart โRollbackโ price tags show the original price, according to Ceja. Items so marked are lacking a clear statement of the productโs original price, she says, and consumers at large do not have the expertise to determine the productโs value themselves.
She argues that for these items, shoppers should be able to rely on the posted โRollbackโ price tag to determine what the item is worth. But a customer who relies on the โwasโ prices on Walmart โRollbackโ tags would be deceived as to the itemโs true original price, Ceja claims.
The plaintiffย argues Walmartโs โRollbackโ pricing deceives consumers into thinking theyโre getting a bargain that doesnโt actually exist. By creating a false impression of a discount, Walmart is inducing customers to make purchases they would not make otherwise, she claims.
Ceja cites California law that specifically restricts the type of fake sale pricing she is accusing Walmart of. A state statute requires that to advertise a price as a โformer price,โ that price must have been the prevailing market price for the item advertised within the three months preceding the advertisement. Otherwise, the advertisement must state the date on which the former price was the prevailing price.
The Walmart class actionย also cites Federal Trade Commission guidance describing circumstances that make sale pricing deceptive. According to that guidance, sale pricing based on a fictitious original price creates an impression of a false bargain. In that case, โthe purchaser is not receiving the unusual value he expects.โ
Ceja seeks to represent a sizable plaintiff Class that would consist of all persons in the U.S. who from April 20, 2013 through the date of final judgment, purchased merchandise advertised with a Walmart โRollbackโ price based on an advertised โwasโ price that did not match the actual former price for that item.
She is asking for a court order requiring Walmart to stop its โRollbackโ pricing and to conduct a corrective advertising campaign. She is also asking for an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement, and reimbursement of attorneysโ fees and costs of this litigation.
Ceja is represented by attorneys Kiley L. Grombacher and Marcus J. Bradley of Bradley/Grombacher LLP.
The Walmart โRollbackโ Fake Sale Class Action Lawsuit is Brenna Ceja v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Case No. 2:17-at-00427, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
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742 thoughts onWalmart Class Action Says โRollbackโ Pricing Deceives Shoppers
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Add me please, enough with false advertising.
Please include me
ADD ME 2 SHOP THERE 2 OR 3 TIMES A WEEK
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Thankfully, Brenna caught on and has thus far succeeded in holding this company accountable for a change. Hereโs hoping she prevails where others have not and her courage is rewarded appropriately!
Add myself also please
Please add me as well thank you
Please add me.. Thank you.
Yes please keep me informed