A lawsuit was filed against Harbor Freight for violating the law by advertising merchandise at a “sale” or “comp at” price, when the same items had not been sold at the advertised regular or “comp at” price for at least 28 of the preceding 90 days.
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Harbor Freight Sales Lawsuit
In other words, the company is accused of allegedly advertising items as on sale when those sale prices didn’t reflect a legitimate discount. Harbor Freight disputes the allegations made by the plaintiffs and insists it complied with the law. Despite this, both sides have agreed on a settlement.
Who Filed The Lawsuit
The plaintiff in the case is Jeffrey Beck and he filed the lawsuit against the company for promoting merchandise as being “on sale”, or marked with allegedly fictional regular prices used to create an illusion of a discount. Beck claims that these fictional regular prices are meant to deceive customers. He stated that this deception means that Harbor Freight Tools violated consumer protection laws.
Who can join the class lawsuit?
You must have been Harbor Freight Customer in the United States and must have purchased any product from the company between April 8, 2011 and up to December 15, 2016. The product must have been advertised with a higher reference price adjacent to a lower current offering price. That product must not have been sold at the higher reference price for at least 28 of the last 90 days prior to purchase. You do not need proof of purchase to be a class member.
What is the estimated amount?
Members of the class whose settlement has been approved, and filed a Claim form on time may be entitled for payment. The potential award varies and there are three possible recovery options depending on how members can document their qualifying purchases.
- Option 1: For persons who purchased a product from the company and have the “you save” amount reflected on the receipts they got after the purchase. They can submit copies of those receipts and will either receive 20% in cash, or 30% in Harbor Freight gift card of the total amount “they saved” reflected on the receipts. This excludes the amount reflecting free items or items that were returned later.
- Option2: A 10% in cash or 12% on a Harbor Freight Tools gift card of the total amount of Harbor Freight purchase for people that credit or debit card statement (s) that prove they shopped at Harbor Freight.
- Option 3: If you shopped at Harbor Freight but do not have proof, you can submit a signed declaration that you were affected. You will then receive a $10 Harbor Freight gift Card. However, you sign that declaration under the penalty of perjury.
If the total cost for amounts paid to Class members, administrative fee and attorney’s fees is less than 23 million, Class members may receive additional compensation. The documentation you provide is what will determine the additional amount you will get. It’s not just Harbor Freight that has been accused of using fictional regular prices during sales. In fact, there was a Consumer Watchdog report that claimed that Amazon had inflated crossed-out prices to motivate consumers to buy from them.