MIAMI (Legal Newsline) - Rooms to Go, a Florida-based furniture store, is being sued for allegedly lying to customers about treating its furniture against food and beverages.
Benjamin Hankinson, James Guerra, Ed Paulus and Jeanette Gandolfo filed the lawsuit Aug. 12 in U.S. District Court in Florida against R.T.G. Furniture Corp., doing business as Rooms to Go, claiming the company lied about a special treatment it offered for purchases.
The company features an optional add-on purchase that it calls the ForceField Exclusive Fabric Protection Plan. The add-on allegedly professionally treats the furniture prior to delivery and will protect against food and beverage spills. The plan normally costs about 10 percent of the purchase price, the lawsuit said.
The plaintiffs contend that the company doesn’t treat the furniture at all under the plan.
“In fact, testing conducted by plaintiffs shows no presence of any fabric protectant on the furniture at all. This is consistent with the admissions of former RTG employees,” the lawsuit said.
Furthermore, the products that the company reportedly uses as its fabric protector is available for a retail costs of about $12.95 to $14.95 for a 22-ounce bottle.
“Thus, even if RTG applied the ForceField product as promised, RTG deceives customers by not disclosing at the point of sale that they could purchase the fabric treatment for a far less price elsewhere,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit seeks class status for those who purchased the plan. The plaintiffs are also seeking damages in excess of $5 million plus court costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Theodore J. Leopold, Leslie M. Kroeger and Diana L. Martin of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Andrew N. Friedman and Douglas J. McNamara of the same law firm in Washington, D.C.; and Steven G. Calamusa of Gordon & Doner in Palm Beach Gardens.
U.S. District Court Southern District of Florida case number 9:15-cv-81139.