In a major settlement involving allegations of deceptive pricing tactics, the lighting retailer Lamps Plus, Illumine Midco, Inc., and Illumine Finco, Inc. agreed to pay $4.1 million. The legal action, spearheaded by the San Diego County District Attorney, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties, accused Lamps Plus of misleading advertising and practices that undermine fair competition.
With a stipulated judgment entered, Lamps Plus will fork over $3.8 million in civil penalties alongside $300,000 to defray investigative costs. The litigation hinged on the retailer's so-called price protection policies, which critics argue were not as consumer-friendly as they were made to appear. These include a price match and a 120% price match guarantee that did not extend to Lamps Plus's own products and harbored additional exclusions not immediately evident to shoppers.
As part of the settlement, Lamps Plus has been hit with an injunction hindering their ability to advertise certain pricing policies, such as the 120% Price Protection Policy, if they can result in misleading or deceiving consumers. More specifically, the judgment targets any form of price advertising that could be interpreted as false or capable of misleading customers. Lamps Plus cooperated with the investigation but did not admit to any wrongdoing or liability.
Deputy District Attorney Colleen E. Huschke of the DA’s Consumer Protection Unit managed the case in San Diego. This particular unit, alongside the DA’s Economic Crimes Division, routinely prosecutes various forms of malfeasance, ranging from elder financial abuse to environmental crimes.
