DeWine
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against an Internet layaway business that allegedly failed to deliver products purchased by consumers or to provide refunds.
Stacy A. Perry of Goshen, doing business as Layaway Express and 123 Layaway, used the Internet to offer consumers throughout the nation layaway services.
Consumers sent the business a link to products they wanted to purchase on layaway, paying 10 percent of the purchase price upfront and a $25 layaway fee on top of the product's price, DeWine says. Consumers could then make payments to the company to pay for the purchase, with the company arranging for delivery of the product when payments were completed, he said.
Consumers, however, alleged that they did not receive their purchases as arranged. Consumers also alleged that they did not receive refunds for goods that they paid for but did not receive.
Despite Ohio's Retail Installment Sales Act, the company also failed to provide consumers with written contracts for layaways of more than $500, DeWine claims.
"Consumers have to be able to trust that they will get a product when they pay for something with their hard-earned money," DeWine said. "When companies or individuals don't deliver on that promise, we will go after them."
DeWine's lawsuit, which alleges violations of the Consumer Sales Practices Act and the Retail Installment Sales Act, seeks restitution for all consumers harmed, injunctive relief, civil penalties and court costs.