Los Angeles, CA: Google is facing a proposed consumer fraud class action lawsuit alleging the company refused to redeem Google Play gift cards with balances of less than $10, in violation of California law.
According to the putative class action, Google is also in violation of and the False Advertising Law through its unlawful terms and conditions for Google Play, a digital media store that offers music, books, magazines, movies and TV shows.
Lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, Lorena Hernandez, claims that consumers like herself, who are left with low balances on their Google Play gift cards, must choose between either using a credit card to pay for a product' entire cost or buy additional gift cards worth more than the item they wish to purchase.
"When plaintiff Lorena Hernandez and all other similarly situated class members purchased Google Play gift cards, they did so without any disclosure from the defendants that such consumers, in effect, were being forced into a financial merry-go-round,"according to the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, in 2006, consumers lost 10 percent of their gift card balances due to unredeemed value on the cards, or expiration or loss of a gift card. Consequently, the California Legislature passed SB 250 to guarantee consumers the full value of gift cards with values less than $10.
The lawsuit alleges that in March, when Malynda Hernandez, also a named plaintiff, tried to redeem the balance on her Google Play gift card of $7.03, a Google representative refused because of the card' terms of service.
"There will virtually always be a balance that cannot be spent and that the defendants will not refund,"Hernandez states.
The putative class would include anyone who purchased, received, held, used or redeemed a Google Play gift card since March 6, 2012.
The plaintiffs are represented by Stephen R. Basser, Jeffrey W. Golan and Samuel M. Ward of Barrack Rodos & Bacine, and Brian Felgoise of Felgoise Law Firm. The case is Lorena Hernandez et al. v Google Inc. et al., case number 5:15-cv-03303, in the U.S. District for the Northern District of California.
