San Diego, CA: San Diego Superior Court Judge Judith Hayes granted preliminary approval of a class action settlement against Big5 Sporting Goods for allegations of using false price comparisons to market and sell tennis, squash and racquet ball rackets.
Plaintiff alleged that he was induced to purchase a Wilson n5 tennis racket when Big5 Sporting Goods advertised it with a sale price of $49.00 along with representations that the "regular"price was $229.00. Plaintiff later learned that the racket was a low quality racket specially made for Big5 that never had a regular price of $229.00. Plaintiff sued on behalf of all consumers who purchased similarly falsely advertised rackets sold by Big5.
A settlement was reached with a minimum value of $4,000,000. All consumers who purchased a tennis, squash or racquet ball racket from a Big5 store in the United States between August 7, 2005 and March 18, 2011 are entitled to a refund of the full amount of the price they paid for each racket, subject to a maximum payment of $50 per racket purchased.
Should less than the $4,000,000 minimum payout be claimed, the balance of the settlement will be converted to merchandise vouchers and donated to the Boys and Girls Club of America for distribution to club members in states in which Big5 operates its stores (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming).
The settlement also includes an injunction prohibiting Big5 from including comparative "regular"prices on merchandise unless the "regular"price was actually in effect on at least 45 days of the 90 days immediately preceding the date that the advertised sale commences.
