L.L. Bean Hit with Class Action Over Return Policy ‘Update’

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A Massachusetts resident has filed a proposed class action in which he takes issue with L.L. Bean’s about-face regarding its famed “100% Satisfaction Guarantee” that allowed customers to exchange or replace items without proof of purchase. The lawsuit claims L.L. Bean’s return policy update—which now requires proof of purchase for all returns and excludes coverage for misused or improperly cared for products—violates federal law in that customers who purchased products before the company’s February 2018 announcement of the change “did not receive what they bargained for.”

“The Guarantee of ‘complete satisfaction,’ bargained and paid for by loyal customers for years, has been suddenly and unilaterally withdrawn by L.L. Bean,” the case reads.

The complaint describes L.L. Bean’s shift as “deceptive and unfair,” and asks the court to not only award damages, but to require L.L. Bean to continue to honor its former lifetime warranty with “no end date and no questions asked” for goods bought prior to February 9, 2018. A step further, the case alleges L.L. Bean has done all it can “to attempt to obscure” its policy reversal from the public.