The Los Angeles city attorney's office is sueing four retailers for allegedly duping shoppers into believing they got bigger discounts than they actually did.
"Shoppers throughout the nation are looking to find the biggest bargain they can find, because everyone is looking to get the most out of their holiday shopping dollar," City Attorney Mike Feuer said at a Thursday press conference. "But when is a discount not really a discount? When is a sale not really a sale?"
Feuer's office filed four lawsuits against JC Penney, Sears, Kohl's and Macy's. The office contends that the retailers falsely advertised higher regular prices for merchandise so customers believed they were getting bigger bargains, a process called "false reference pricing."
For example, the suit against JC Penney says the store might advertise a handbag for $125 and claim it is being sold at a 50 percent discount from its "regular" price of $250, despite never previously selling the handbag at that "regular" price.
California law bars retailers from advertising a higher original price unless the product was sold at that price within three months of the ad.
"Families today, right now at this hour at this season, are striving to get the very most they can get from an extremely hard earned holiday shopping dollar," Feuer said. "They deserve to make an informed decision."
The Los Angeles Times reports JC Penney and Sears declined to comment on the pending litigation, while Macy's and Kohl's did not respond to requests for comment.
Feuer said his office is calling on each of the retailers to stop the practice of false reference pricing before the lawsuits are resolved.
