In order to state a claim for deceptive practices, many state consumer protection laws require plaintiffs to prove that the challenged acts or practices are “likely to deceive reasonable consumers.” In an opinion issued today, the Seventh Circuit grappled with the question of what exactly that means. The opinion comes in a class action brought […]
Category Archives: Unfair & Deceptive Acts & Practices (UDAP), including Discrimination
Two new actions by the Federal Trade Commission today: FTC Takes Action Against Online Used Car Dealer Vroom for Deceiving Customers, Failing to Deliver on Time and Provide Required Disclosures FTC Takes Action Against Gig Work Company Arise Virtual Solutions for Deceiving Consumers About Pay in Marketing Its Business Opportunity
The Federal Trade Commission annual Report on Refunds to Consumers tallies the total refunds to consumers in 2023 from FTC enforcement actions at more than $324 million. The report provides a breakdown of the total amount refunded by the FTC nationally, as well as the amount mailed to each state, and also includes a list […]
Today, the FTC filed a lawsuit against in the Northern District of California against Adobe, makers of Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, and others, for practices in connection with its “Annual, Paid Monthly” subscription plan. The complaint alleges violations of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. From the FTC’s press release: [W]hen consumers purchase a subscription through the […]
Travelers United is a DC-based nonprofit that has sued a number of travel and hospitality providers for putative violations of DC’s consumer protection laws. In one recent case, the organization sued Hilton for their “deceptive Junk Fee practices” that “trick consumers into paying more” to book a hotel room “than they otherwise would.” Travelers United […]
Zelle scams have been drawing a lot of attention lately. For example, Penny Crosman has an article in the American Banker, Inside a Zelle fraud that almost lost a Florida consumer $3,500 (behind paywall but available on Lexis); she also discusses it on the Banking with Interest podcast. The Electronic Fund Transfers Act enables consumers […]
Following an investigation of the largest wireless providers’ advertising, marketing, and sales practices, 50 state AGs announced a settlement to discourage misleading and deceptive conduct. The cell phone companies agreed to pay a total of $10.25 million to change their practices. Specifically, the AGs investigated the sales tactics of AT&T Mobility, LLC, Cellco Partnership (doing […]
Junk fees are likely to feature in the election this year, so for that reason alone, it would be useful to know what they are. Sometimes they seem to be defined by examples; you can find such a list of examples (as well as a definition that strikes me as underinclusive) here. Because the very […]
Recently someone texted me a picture of a product. When I pulled it up on the seller’s website, the displayed price was twice the price listed in the texted picture. And here’s a piece that may address that discrepancy: Haggai Porat of Harvard and the Tel Aviv University School of Economics has written Algorithmic Personalized […]
In 2015, consumers sued the manufacturers of KIND products –first over the company’s use of the word “healthy” in describing its products, and then over the “All Natural/Non-GMO” claim on product packaging. The class action included claims for violation of several state laws. After class certification and discovery, the district court excluded the testimony of […]