Mattress Firm class action claims retailer advertises fake discount prices

Mattress Firm class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Erica Hampton filed a class action lawsuit against Mattress Firm Inc.
• Why: Hampton claims that Mattress Firm sells items on its website at fake discount prices to dupe consumers into thinking they are getting a bargain.
• Where: The Mattress Firm class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

A recent Mattress Firm class action lawsuit alleges the retailer unlawfully advertises products on its website at fake sale prices to dupe customers into thinking they are getting a bargain.

Plaintiff Erica Hampton alleges Mattress Firm’s website lists a false “reference price” on products purportedly being sold at a discount. 

“Anyone visiting the website who buys an item on ‘sale’ from a stricken former or regular price is being misled,” the Mattress Firm class action lawsuit says, alleging the item was never listed on the website at the regular price for a substantial time.

These allegedly false reference prices “are inflated prices posted to lure consumers into purchasing items” from Mattress Firm, Hampton claims.

Hampton says she visited the Mattress Firm website in June and opted to purchase a Sealy brand mattress because she believed it was being sold at a 30% discount from the regular price.

The strikethrough regular price for the mattress was listed at $799.99 with a sale price of $545.99. Hampton purchased the mattress and believed she was receiving a true discount from the regular price listed on the website.

Ten days after making the purchase, she noticed the same mattress was being sold on the Mattress Firm website for $489.99, a purported 38% discount from the strikethrough reference price.

Mattress Firm class action: Items on website were never listed at reference price

Hampton alleges the mattress she purchased was not offered at the purported regular price at any time during the 90-day period prior to her purchase. She claims Mattress Firm rarely offers any of its discounted items for sale at their purported reference prices.

She says she would not have purchased the mattress at its advertised price, or would not have paid as much for it, had Mattress Firm been truthful about its reference prices.

The Mattress Firm class action lawsuit says the retailer’s false reference pricing violates the Federal Trade Commission Act’s prohibitions on “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”

The complaint also asserts claims for violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and unjust enrichment.

Hampton filed the Mattress Firm class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and a proposed class of consumers in California who bought at least one mattress from MattressFirm.com at a discount from a higher reference price.

Mattress Firm is just one of the latest retailers to face a fake sale price class action lawsuit.

What do you think of the fake sale price allegations in the Mattress Firm class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.

Hampton is represented by Alexander E. Wolf of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC.

The Mattress Firm class action lawsuit is Erica Hampton v. Mattress Firm Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-06488, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Bissell announces recall for 3M+ Steam Shot cleaners
• Good Earth announces recall for 1.2M rechargeable lights following death
• Bosch dishwasher class action claims appliances’ labeling quickly fades
• 1.5M adult bed rails recalled following 2 deaths