County reaches legal settlement with Lamps Plus over misleading ads

Riverside County will receive just over $1 million from Chatsworth-based Lamps Plus Inc. under a civil settlement stemming from the company's marketing strategies, which prosecutors contend involved false advertising that misled consumers, it was announced today.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office, together with D.A.'s offices in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, filed suit against Lamps Plus earlier this year following an investigation spearheaded by the Consumer Protection Unit in Riverside, which uncovered instances where the defendants "unlawfully advertised'' products, according to a D.A.'s office statement.

Last month, the plaintiffs and company reached a settlement in Riverside County Superior Court that was affirmed on Oct. 2 by Judge Carol Greene. The terms specify $3.8 million in civil penalties and $300,000 in cost recovery for the investigative resources expended. According to Deputy District Attorney Evan Goldsmith, Riverside County's share of the payout will come to $1.025 million.

"Lamps Plus allegedly used `compare at' and `comparable value' sales tags to indicate a bargain price, even where the product sold was an own-brand product with no competitor in the market, or where the comparable product was not of similar design and quality,'' according to an agency statement. "Also,
the `strike-through' advertised reference price on sales tags was allegedly used to indicate a bargain price, even where the advertised former price was not an actual former price."

Lamps Plus admitted no wrongdoing under the terms of the civil settlement.    In addition to the payouts, the agreement stipulates that Lamps Plus will be prohibited from advertising price match guarantees that could make the company's "price protection guarantee policy'' in any way misleading, prosecutors said.

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