Consumer Claims Ocean State Job Lot Sells ‘Gray Market’ Batteries

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A New York man is behind a proposed class action against discount retailer Ocean State Job Lot alleging it deceives consumers by marketing and selling “gray market” Duracell batteries, which the case claims are meant for sale in Asia, not the United States, and therefore may perform differently than expected.

Filed against Ocean State Job Lot’s operating company, Ocean State Jobbers, Inc., the lawsuit takes issue with claims promulgated by the defendant that its Duracell batteries last up to six times longer than those of competing brands. While those claims may be true for the Asian battery market, of which zinc carbon batteries make up a “substantial percentage,” advertising claims about batteries for the U.S. market, made up mostly of alkaline batteries, need to hit different benchmarks, the suit says.

“These claims were not intended to apply vis-à-vis competitors’ alkaline batteries designed for the US market,” the complaint argues. “Consequently, these advertising claims are materially false and misleading to consumers in the Northeastern United States where Ocean State sells these gray market products.”

The complaint goes on to say Duracell itself has for years spent significant resources “nurturing” its brand in the U.S. and, upon reportedly learning of the defendant’s alleged behavior in March 2017, demanded Ocean State voluntarily cease and desist from selling the “gray market” batteries. When the company continued to sell “gray market” batteries, the case says Duracell brought Ocean State to court on July 19, 2017 in an effort to protect its reputation and “customer goodwill” threatened by the sale of batteries that “are otherwise materially different than what US purchasers and consumers expect.”

The lawsuit covers a proposed class of consumers who purchased Duracell products at any of the defendant’s stores across New York, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut or New Jersey that were not intended for sale to consumers in the U.S.