Class Action Lawsuit Claims Memorex Flash Drives Contain Less Storage Than Advertised

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims that PNY Technologies has falsely advertised the storage capacity of its Memorex USB flash drives.

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According to the 19-page lawsuit, although the Memorex flash drives are advertised as having storage capacities of 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB or one terabyte, they actually contain “several gigabytes less” than the amount stated on labels.

The lawsuit alleges that the Memorex drives’ false claims, which are prominently advertised on the product packaging and the websites of third-party sellers with no qualifiers or disclaimers, have deceived reasonable consumers into paying for storage space that they will not actually receive or be able to use.

The drives, the lawsuit says, are primarily marketed towards Microsoft Windows users, given that Apple operating systems measure storage differently and that Apple’s products no longer include a USB-A port that would fit the Memorex flash drives. As such, the complaint argues that the drives’ storage measurements should be consistent with those of Windows operating systems.

However, the complaint claims that when inserted into a computer running Windows, the flash drives provide less usable storage space than stated on labels; for example, the 32 GB flash drives actually provide 29.8 GB or less of available space, the filing says. The lawsuit claims that the disparity between advertised and actual capacity increases with the advertised size.

The complaint claims that the reason for the storage capacity discrepancy is that some of the advertised space is used for internal functions or is otherwise inaccessible. The used or inaccessible space remains even after the drive has been reformatted, the lawsuit says.

Per the case, consumers do not discover that the Memorex flash drives contain less usable space than advertised until after they have purchased the product and started using it.

The Memorex class action lawsuit seeks to represent anyone in California who bought a Memorex USB flash drive within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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