PENSACOLA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – A consumer alleges that an arts and crafts store chain advertises discounts that were not actually provided to customers.
Steven D. Marcrum filed a complaint on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated on June 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Division against Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. alleging violation of the Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that the defendant misleads customers regarding prices of its merchandise.
"Hobby Lobby says it takes coupon discounts off of 'regular' prices, but instead it takes them off a price it never sells merchandise at. These prices are artificially inflated prices that are fictions created by Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby offers percentage discount coupons and takes these percentage discount coupons from its artificially inflated rather than its everyday 'regular' prices. Hobby Lobby systemically refuses to give the advertised percentage discount coupon from the price at which the merchandise 'always' sells," the suit states.
The plaintiff alleges in March 2017, he went to the defendant's store in Pensacola, Florida to purchase a table that was marked as "always 30 percent off" for a price of $83.99 and planned to use a 40 percent off one item coupon. He alleges he believed the table would be sold at the $83.99 price, but instead the 40 percent discount was taken off of a price of $119.99.
"The $119.99 is a price made up by Hobby Lobby, and only used to calculate 40 percent off discounts. No customer ever pays $119.99 for the piece of furniture Mr. Marcrum purchased," the suit states.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury, the costs of this action and attorneys’ fees. He is represented by Joshua R. Gale and Brian M. Clark of Wiggins Childs Pantazis Fisher Goldfarb LLC in Birmingham, Alabama; Allan L. Armstrong of Armstrong Law Center LLC in Vestavia Hills, Alabama; and Darrell Cartwright of Cartwright Law Center LLC in Birmingham, Alabama.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida Pensacola Division case number 3:18-cv-01388-RV-CJK