San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson announced today that Lowe’s entered into a stipulated judgment and will pay $1,089,999.90 to settle a civil law enforcement complaint alleging the home improvement retailer engaged in false advertising and unfair competition in California by unlawfully charging customers prices that were higher than their lowest advertised or posted price.
The Consumer Protection Units of the District Attorneys of San Bernardino, San Diego, Alameda, Orange, Los Angeles and Sonoma counties investigated and prosecuted this matter, and the case was filed in San Diego County Superior Court. Lowe’s operates 110 stores in California.
District Attorney Anderson noted, “Our Consumer Protection Unit works tirelessly to hold retailers accountable for their legal obligations and to ensure that our residents are able to trust that the advertised quantity and price of a product is accurate.”
Deputy District Attorney Rick C. Lal with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Specialized Prosecutions Division prosecuted this case. He highlighted that the Judgment includes an injunction prohibiting Lowe’s from engaging in false or misleading advertising. It also requires the retailer to initiate and maintain a new robust price accuracy policy, procedures that make more employees responsible for price accuracy, additional internal audits, and an agreement not to raise prices over the weekend.
Prosecutor Lal further noted that the Judgment requires the home improvement retailer to pay $1,000,000 in civil penalties and just under $90,000 in costs and restitution to cover the counties’ weights and measures investigations and support future enforcement of consumer protection laws. Lowe’s has not admitted any liability or wrongdoing and cooperated with weights and measures inspectors throughout the state and with prosecutors.
San Bernardino County’s Department of Agriculture – Weights and Measures, is the agency that inspected Lowe’s throughout San Bernardino County and is instrumental in monitoring retailers to make sure that consumers are being charged for accurate prices. Consumers may report overcharges to the San Bernardino County Department of Weights and Measures by calling (909) 387-2105 or via e-mail to awm@awm.sbcounty.gov.
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