Class Action Claims Sherwin-Williams Secretly Tacks ‘Supply Chain Surcharge’ Onto Every Sale

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The Sherwin-Williams Company faces a proposed class action over its alleged practice of tacking onto every sale a hidden four-percent “supply chain surcharge.” 

The 17-page complaint says that Sherwin-Williams has taken to charging the extra four percent on every sale as a means to shoulder the burden of supply chain shortages for raw materials and rapidly increasing manufacturing costs. As the suit tells it, Sherwin-Williams has shifted these extra costs onto consumers, who are often unaware that they’ve paid the hidden surcharge until it’s too late for them to rescind their purchase. 

According to the case, the supply chain surcharge allows Sherwin-Williams to “hide the true prices of its products,” as customers are induced into making purchases based on lower list prices before being “duped at the cash register” into paying the additional four-percent fee. 

“Sherwin-William’s [sic] conduct is deceptive and illegal, as it obstructs customers’ ability to engage in fair and accurate price comparisons in the marketplace and to shop around for the best value for their money,” the case states. 

Overall, the complaint alleges the paint manufacturer “deceives customers into making purchases that they otherwise would not make” by misrepresenting the actual cost at which items are offered for sale. 

The filing stresses that as a result of the disruption to global production across myriad industries and widespread scarcity of certain consumer goods and underlying raw materials, costs have spiked for retailers such as Sherwin-Williams. The case, citing the Los Angeles Times, relays that some corporations, including the defendant, have refused to take on the increased cost burden, and have instead passed it on to unsuspecting consumers. 

The case contends that the additional surcharge imposed by Sherwin-Williams allows the retailer to “play fast and loose” with pricing by “jacking up customers’ costs” at the register, when they’re less likely to cancel a transaction. 

“Customers reasonably believe that they are purchasing items at the normal list price that Defendant has advertised, but in reality, they end up paying 4% more for each item at the cash register,” the suit says, noting that the disclosure about the supply chain surcharge appears at the bottom of customer receipts.

The lawsuit looks to represent consumers nationwide who, within the applicable statute of limitations, made a purchase at a Sherwin-Williams store and were charged a four-percent surcharge. 

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