- Lawsuit seeks $5 million on behalf of affected consumers
- Home Depot accused of artificially inflating the “original price” of products
- Practice made discounts appear generous and deceived customers, plaintiffs say
Home Depot has been the subject of a class-action lawsuit over allegations that it exaggerated discounts on certain products by artificially inflating the original price.
Court documents seen by DailyMail.com include multiple examples of products including refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers with an allegedly false “original price.”
Buyers Eric Berger and Jason Londrigan, both of Texas, have filed a case against the company in federal court in Georgia.
They are asking for $5 million to be distributed among consumers who had been fooled by the apparent discounts.
Retailers are frequently criticized for so-called “false reference” pricing, in which they inflate the original price to make a discount appear more generous.
Home Depot has been the subject of a class-action lawsuit over allegations that it exaggerated discounts on certain products by artificially inflating the original price.
The plaintiffs tracked the advertised cost of a Whirlpool stainless steel microwave for two months, during which time it was never listed at its so-called “original price.” The different colors indicate when the price changed. It was never sold at the original price.
Berger and Londrigan tracked the advertised cost of certain products and discovered that many had not appeared as their “original” price in more than three months.
The lawsuit claims that some products “were never sold at their purported original price,” which
In one example, they cite a stainless steel microwave from Whirlpool that has an original list price of $399.
But the lawsuit alleges that the price was actually listed at its discounted price of $198 for the four weeks of November 2023 and the first week of December.
It then rose to $228 on December 12 and 19 before reaching $359 the day after Christmas.
Therefore, customers who bought it at the end of the month were under the impression that they were getting a good deal when in fact the product had been about $160 cheaper just a few weeks earlier.
The product is currently available on Home Depot’s website for $198 and still has the “original price” listed as $399.
The lawsuit alleges: ‘This conduct artificially increases demand for deceptively priced products and induces customers to pay more based on a false impression of their value.
“False reference pricing schemes allow retailers like Home Depot to sell products above their true market price, to the detriment of consumers.”
The microwave is currently available on Home Depot’s website for $198 and still has the “original price” listed as $399.
It claims the company violates federal and Georgia state laws, including the Georgia Fair Trade Practices Act.
Home Depot has 2,000 physical stores in North America and earned $1.53 billion in revenue in 2022.
About 14 percent of that money comes through its website, the class action lawsuit states.
Court documents have only been filed and no hearing date has been set. It could be months or even years before the case is resolved and payments are made if Home Depot loses.
DailyMail.com has contacted Home Depot for comment.
