Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Ann Taylor Factory Stores, LOFT Outlets Advertise Fake In-Store Discounts

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A proposed class action claims Premium Brands Opco LLC has engaged in a false discounting scheme to mislead consumers into believing they are getting hefty savings on products sold in Ann Taylor Factory Stores and LOFT Outlet locations.

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The 37-page fraud lawsuit contends the retailer has artificially inflated its reference prices to “lure” shoppers with fictitious discounts and trick them into thinking they are purchasing merchandise with a higher market value than it actually has. According to the suit, the Ann Taylor Factory Store and LOFT Outlet products are, in fact, perpetually on sale and never offered at their purported “original” prices.

Per the case, in-store price tags and accompanying placards advertise percentage-off or whole-price discounts that promise huge savings on the apparent “original” cost listed on an item’s tag. However, the complaint alleges that the deals are misrepresentations because they are based on inflated regular prices that “no one ever pays.”

The alleged false advertising scheme violates federal pricing regulations, which state that a product’s advertised original cost must be a legitimate price at which the merchandise was offered for sale on a “regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time,” the filing shares.

The case argues that contrary to the purported bargains offered at Ann Taylor Factory Stores and LOFT Outlet locations, consumers are not receiving any deals at all and are, in truth, overpaying for the products.

“ … [F]alse reference pricing schemes enable retailers, like [Premium Brands Opco], to sell products above their true market price and value, leaving consumers to pay the inflated price regardless of what they thought of the purported discount,” the complaint relays. “Consumers are thus damaged not only by not receiving the promised discount, but by paying a premium the products would not have commanded but for the false reference pricing scheme.”

The Ann Taylor Factory Store and LOFT Outlet false reference pricing lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Oregon who, within the applicable statute of limitations period, bought at least one product from one of the stores at a discount from an advertised reference price and has not received a refund or credit for their purchase.

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