Seven DAs Sue Overstock.com, Claim Retailer Overstated Discounts
Seven district attorneys in Northern California have joined together to file a lawsuit against Overstock.com that claims the online retailer overstated its discounts.
The suit claims Overstock.com listed comparative prices that were inflated, making its claimed discounts look larger, according to the Oakland Tribune and Redding.com. Overstock has a “best price guarantee,” but in some cases it charges significantly higher prices than other merchants, the suit claims.
The suit is seeking a minimum of $15 million in fines and restitution and an injunction blocking the retailer’s price comparisons.
A complaint by a man in Cottonwood, Calif., spurred the lawsuit, according to Redding.com. He bought a patio set for $449 on Overstock, which claimed other companies had list prices of $999.99 for the same item. When the customer got his patio set, he saw a Walmart sticker on the box with a price of $247.
Overstock general counsel Mark Griffin told Redding.com that the patio set problem was an isolated incident based on bad information. “I told them [prosecutors] nobody’s perfect,” Griffin told the publication. “It doesn’t mean there’s a systemic problem.”
Griffin told the Oakland Tribune the company follows “standard advertising practices” informing its customers how it generates comparison prices. “We do not deserve this, especially the timing of it,” he told the newspaper.
