Lighting and furniture store to pay $4.1M in ‘deceptive’ pricing lawsuit

A lighting and furniture company based in California will pay more than $4 million to settle a civil lawsuit that accused the corporation of deceptive pricing and false advertising.

Lamps Plus, Inc. and its affiliates will pay millions to settle the suit, which was filed last month in Riverside County by several Southern California district attorneys.

According to a release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Lamps Plus stores allegedly advertised false sales and discounts, misleading price match guarantees and “deceptive” comparisons of its prices to competitors. The practices, according to the D.A.’s Office, have been going on since at least March 2017.

The settlement, which was agreed to on Sept. 20, requires the company to pay $3.8 million in civil penalties and $300,000 for investigative costs.

Lamps Plus is also prohibited from engaging in future misleading or false advertising, including advertising a misleading price match guarantee or offering a “120 percent price protection policy.”

As part of the settlement, Lamps Plus did not admit any wrongdoing and officials said the company cooperated with the investigation.

“Californians have a right to protection from unscrupulous companies seeking to trick hardworking individuals into shopping at their stores with deceptive pricing,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said. “Our office takes allegations of consumer rights violations very seriously, and we will continue to tirelessly fight for consumers and hold corporations accountable for breaking the law.”

The case was investigated and prosecuted by the consumer protection units from Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego county district attorney’s offices.

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