Best Buy Lawsuit Investigation: Fake Sale Prices for TCL TVs?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org believe Best Buy may have used deceptive sales tactics to trick customers into believing they were getting a better bargain for TCL TVs than they actually were.

Specifically, they’re looking into whether the retailer may have listed the TVs as on sale from a misleading strikethrough “original” price when they’re rarely, if ever, actually sold for that price. The attorneys suspect these potential fake sales have caused customers to overpay for the TVs or make purchases they otherwise would not have made.

What’s the Problem with Fake Markdowns?

Attorneys believe that Best Buy’s potentially fake TV deals may not only be misleading—but also illegal.

According to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Guides Against Deceptive Pricing, if a company advertises a discount using the product’s former price as a point of comparison, that former price must have been “the actual, bona fide price” at which the item was sold on a regular basis for a “reasonably substantial period of time.” If a company uses a former price that was inflated or if the product was never, or only briefly, sold at that price, it is considered a misleading and prohibited business practice by the FTC.

Countless retailers have recently faced class action lawsuits over their alleged use of fake original prices to create the illusion of a discount, including Old Navy, JCPenney, Kohl’s and more. The lawsuits claim these pricing schemes allow retailers to sell products above their true market value, and that consumers are more likely to purchase an item if they think they are getting a good deal.

How Could a Class Action Lawsuit Help?

If filed and successful, a class action lawsuit could help customers get back some of the money they may have overpaid for TCL TVs from Best Buy. It could also potentially force the company to change its advertising practices to ensure consumers are not misled.

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