Snuggie maker owes $7.5M for deceiving customers
Mar 6th 2015 12:18PM
The brains behind 'blanket with sleeves' were just ordered to pay 7.5
million dollars to the Federal Trade Commission for pulling the wool
over our eyes.
Courthouse News reports that Allstar Marketing Group - the company responsible for your beloved Snuggie along with gems like The Perfect Tortilla, the Trendy Top and the Cats Meow - is found guilty of hiding shipping and handling fees.
If you were one of the many who couldn't resist "calling now" for a Magic Mesh at the low, low price of just $19.95 plus processing and handling - it wasn't until you got through an automated system, which the complaint refers to as " deceptive and misleading," and entered your billing information that you finally learned that the real cost is $35.85.
And, according to the complaint, all of Allstar products commercial advertising follows the same misleading format - one thats remained unchanged since 1999.
A press release from the FTC explains that the settlement "prohibits Allstar from failing to obtain consumers' written consent before billing them for any product or service. It also requires the company to clearly and conspicuously disclose – before billing consumers – the total number of products they have ordered, all related fees and costs, and material conditions related to the products purchased."
Sadly, those who were victims of the scheme won't see a dime of the settlement.
http://www.aol.com/article/
Courthouse News reports that Allstar Marketing Group - the company responsible for your beloved Snuggie along with gems like The Perfect Tortilla, the Trendy Top and the Cats Meow - is found guilty of hiding shipping and handling fees.
If you were one of the many who couldn't resist "calling now" for a Magic Mesh at the low, low price of just $19.95 plus processing and handling - it wasn't until you got through an automated system, which the complaint refers to as " deceptive and misleading," and entered your billing information that you finally learned that the real cost is $35.85.
And, according to the complaint, all of Allstar products commercial advertising follows the same misleading format - one thats remained unchanged since 1999.
A press release from the FTC explains that the settlement "prohibits Allstar from failing to obtain consumers' written consent before billing them for any product or service. It also requires the company to clearly and conspicuously disclose – before billing consumers – the total number of products they have ordered, all related fees and costs, and material conditions related to the products purchased."
Sadly, those who were victims of the scheme won't see a dime of the settlement.
http://www.aol.com/article/
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