Thursday, November 18, 2010

Overstock.com Sued Over Misleading Pricing Claims

Salt Lake City-based Overstock.com, the online closeout product retailer, has been sued by a group of district attorneys in a lawsuit in Alameda County, California. According to those district attorneys, Overstock.com made many untrue and misleading claims about pricing on the site, including showing false comparison pricing figures on the site. The group of district attorneys are seeking $15M in fines plus restitution to customers from Overstock.com. In a statement, Overstock.com said it provides price comparisons using "standard industry practice," and that it "stands by all our advertising practices." Overstock said it was being "singled out" for standard industry practices. The District Attorneys in the case are from California's Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Santa Clara, Shasta and Sonoma counties. Overstock explained that it had been in discussions for some time with officials, and said that "We profoundly regret that these officials have chosen to file this lawsuit," saying it now looks forward to its day in court.