Santa Clara, CA: Saks Inc is facing a consumer fraud class action lawsuit alleging the high end retailer engaged in advertising of "phantom markdowns"of Saks-branded products both at its stores and online. The suit claims the ads were based on sham market prices, creating a false impression that the items were being sold at a discount.
Lead plaintiff, Randy Nunez, asserts in the complaint that he purchased a pair of Saks-branded shoes advertised at a 44 percent discount from a market price of $145. However, the lawsuit states the store never offered the shoes at that price. The complaint goes on to claim that Saks continued to mislead customers about discounts, by advertising prices for items that purportedly were on sale and comparing them with false prices presented to customers as the prevailing market price.
"The advertised discounts were nothing more than mere phantom markdowns because the represented market prices were artificially inflated and were never the original prices for clothing, shoes and fashion apparel sold at defendant' retail stores and/or on its Internet website,"the complaint states. "Plaintiff would not have purchased the shoes without the misrepresentations made by Saks."
The lawsuit asserts that the prices Saks claimed as being the original prices did not match prevailing market prices within three months of the allegedly false ads, in violation of California business law.
The suit claims violations of California' Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act and seeks to establish a class of California Saks customers who purchased Saks-branded products with "market"discounts.
Nunez is represented by John T. Jasnoch, Joseph P. Guglielmo and Erin G. Comite of Scott & Scott LLP, Todd D. Carpenter of Carpenter Law Group, and Gary F. Lynch and Edwin J. Kilpela Jr. of Carlson Lynch Sweet & Kilpela LLP.
The case is Randy Nunez v. Saks Inc. et al., case number 3:15-cv-02717, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
