AmericanFreight.com Offers Fake Discounts, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action claims the operator of AmericanFreight.com offers fake discounts on the site to entice consumers into purchasing furniture, mattresses, appliances and other items.

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The 25-page lawsuit out of California says defendant Franchise Group Inc. advertises products on AmericanFreight.com alongside an “original” price with a strikethrough and corresponding, significantly lower “sale” price. Although consumers are led to believe the company is selling a product at a substantial discount, and are therefore more likely to make a purchase, Franchise Group artificially inflates the purported “original” price so that the items only appear to be on sale, the case contends.

According to the filing, items sold on AmericanFreight.com are never listed at their purported original prices. In fact, an investigation conducted by the plaintiff’s counsel found that as of June 2022, over 2,000 items listed on the website have remained discounted for more than 100 days, the suit relays.

Even if Franchise Group did sell its products at their listed original prices, the company has run afoul of California law by offering sales for more than 90 days without informing consumers of the date on which the product was last sold at its alleged former price, the lawsuit relays. 

“It is well-established that false reference pricing violates state and federal law,” the case says. “Even so, sellers, including Franchise Group, continue to use the tactic because they know they will be able to increase sales and profits by tricking consumers into making purchasing decisions based on the advertised reference prices. “

More specifically, Franchise Group’s deceptive pricing scheme tricks consumers into believing that a product is heavily discounted and induces them to make purchases they may not have otherwise made, the complaint contends.

“Additionally, underneath the false original price, the words ‘You Save $___’ are displayed and the corresponding difference between the false original price and the sale price is listed in bold green front to communicate the false savings,” the filing expands.

The suit argues that this artificial price disparity motivates consumers to make purchases based on the belief that a product is worth more than its actual value.

The plaintiff, a California consumer, says he bought an item from AmericanFreight.com in September 2022 because the company made it seem like a substantial discount was being offered for the product. As the case tells it, the website listed the product’s original price as $629.99 with a strikethrough and its sale price as $87.97. In addition, the plaintiff says his receipt told him that he had saved $542.02 on his purchase. However, the plaintiff claims he would not have made the purchase had he known he actually paid the usual retail price for the item because Franchise Group artificially inflated its reference price and offered it under a fake discount.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who, during the applicable statute of limitations period, purchased one or more products from Franchise Group’s e-commerce website AmericanFreight.com at discounts from an advertised reference price and has not received a refund or credit for their purchase(s).

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