NEWARK
— Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
announces the settlement of a lawsuit
against Circuit City Stores Inc. (“Circuit
City”) pursuant to which Circuit
City has agreed to pay the State $173,220
in civil penalties and investigative costs
and to comply with statutes and regulations
governing advertisements.
This is the most recent litigation against
Circuit City by the Attorney General’s
Office. The consent judgement filed today
settles a lawsuit filed in December 2004,
against Circuit City. The lawsuit alleged
that Circuit City violated New Jersey’s
Consumer Fraud Act and Merchandise Advertising
Regulations, as well as terms of a 1996
Agreement of Voluntary Compliance, in
its advertisement of Zero Percent (0%)
interest financing offers. The lawsuit
also alleged violations for not having
advertised items available for purchase
and in the use of footnotes that explained
terms and conditions relevant to consumers.
Circuit City also resolved 37 customer
complaints since Consumer Affairs filed
its lawsuit. Those consumers received
$3,918 in refunds.
“A magnifying glass shouldn’t
be required to read footnotes that tell
consumers all the details of a seemingly
great deal,” Acting Governor Richard
J. Codey said. “Headlines proclaim
but footnotes explain and this settlement
prohibits the obscuring of any relevant
information. We want consumers to know
all the facts before they sign on the
dotted line.”
“We
make sure that customers get what they
pay for and don’t get tricked out
of their money by slick marketing campaigns.
Circuit City will adhere to this agreement
and the terms of the 1996 agreement of
voluntary compliance,” Attorney
General Harvey said. “Consumers
are entitled to clear and conspicuous
disclosure of the terms and conditions
of the offers presented to them.”
Circuit City is paying $150,000 to settle
the lawsuit brought by the State, and
$23,220 in reimbursement for costs in
investigating this matter.
Deputy Attorney General Nicholas B. Armstrong
represented the State in this matter.
Under the settlement, Circuit City agrees
to:
- Comply
with the State’s General Advertising
Regulations;
-
Not utilize any type, size, location,
lighting, illustration, graphic depiction
or color resulting in the obscuring
of any material fact, in the advertisement
of Zero Percent (0%) interest offers
and merchandise cards;
-
Have a sufficient quantity of sale items
in inventory or otherwise available
for immediate purchase;
-
Plainly mark all merchandise offered
for sale with a stamp, tag, label or
sign either affixed to the merchandise
or located at the point where the merchandise
is offered for sale; and
-
Comply with all provisions of the 1996
Agreement of Voluntary Compliance regarding
advertisement of Zero Percent (0%) finance
offers.
“It’s
been said that the devil is in the details.
But sometimes consumers have a devil of
a time in first finding and then reading
the footnotes that contain the details.
Circuit City will provide those details
to consumers in footnotes that are easy
to find and read, as required in this
settlement,” Consumer Affairs Director
Kimberly Ricketts said.