H-F class action suit
 

Had an email this am regarding an ongoing class action suit against Harbor Freight. Something to due with sale prices being compared to comp prices or regular pricing not charged 28 days during 90 day period prior to sale pricing.

Looks like both parties have agreed to a 25 million dollar settlement.

This may put a hurting on inexpensive tools for the hobbiest, in the near future....

Re: H-F class action suit
 

Sounds like Free Trade ....... where Free Trade only cost $25M ..... $25M to Consumers that is ..... got to come from somewhere ......thinking about buying a few of their 50 cent wrenches prior to their settlement ...... hope this helps ...... maybe just too many ridiculous Government Regulations .....

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https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-...-sale-pricing/

that guy and those money greedy lawyers need to find something better to do....

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Now I just got my feelings hurt. Can I sure H/F for pain and suffering?

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Steve this shows you what you get when you completely and correctly give information to a store chain. With a class action the people who are injured and can show damages ie hospital bills. Will be reimbursed to the degree they were injured and if you personally feel slighted and keep your receipts and tally them and send copies of them in. You will be sent a check for a percentage of their purchase prices. As a general customer most people that have spent some money at hb can file for a reimbursement without proof and maybe get a check for 40$ they settled for 25 million because thats what they can afford I would guess they pay more to ship they're products than they pay to make them. I wouldn't expect any price increases. I like the store and both my air compressors came from there and they both work well and are years beyond their warranties. Want to do the best thing for harbour freight. File as a class member and when you get that check spend it at harbour freight. Most times these suits have limited members and small caps on payout without receipts. So a majority of the 25 million will land in the lawyers accounts.

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If you suffered from death call now
I have ye olde antenna tv, and I'd say that about half if not more of the ads on tv are from ambulance chaser law firms. If I enjoyed throwing away money on satellite, or cable this would be the main reason.

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I searched it out and found that the class action is about the deceptiveness of their advertising. Things like giving an original price for the item and it never being available anywhere else or for the price they claimed it would have cost. like the 15$ paint gun that they say originally 49.99 and it never cost that much. Also bait and switch coupons and coupons that suggest full order discounts in the large print and then specify one item in the fine print.

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this site says the settlement pool is 3million http://www.classactionrebates.com/se...arbor-freight/ I dont know what the lawyers get above that. But in this you need recipts to get anything over 10$ and to get the 10$ you need to fille in writing by mail. I dont think there will be many class members. this is the lawyers site handling it with filing info http://www.nationalsalepricesettlement.com/index

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Hey guys, this is nothing new, if you recall several months ago the government fined one of the major retailers JC Penney I think a pile of money for doing the same thing. Basicly advertising something to be on sale down from a price that it was never sold at. It appears that in this case the lawyers make the killing while the class action plaintiffs get bupkus. When the government levies the fines they make the killing and we get the news (again bupkus). Why retailers continue to engage in this stupidity amazes me because it certainly does not appear to be worth the $$$ it costs them if they are charged.

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What a shame, in the long run the cost gets passed to the consumer.

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Basic economics says NO in this case. The retail business is too competitive and their profit margins are too small for one retailer to raise prices unless all others who sell the same products raise their prices at the same time. If they raise prices, they lose sales. it just hits that company's bottom line, e.g., they make less profit.

On the other hand, if a monopoly (one seller and many buyers), or an oligopoly (a few sellers and many buyers) like car makers get fined, then they can pass it on to the consumer because they control prices. Same with oil companies. If one seller raises the price the others raise their prices because they can make more money.

David Serrano

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Ever heard of VolksWagen ? It does not get more reputable than that.

And look what they did - and got caught.

So how many others out there are doing the same crooked kind of thing , and have not got caught ?

I bought a postage stamp from a "reputable" company (US Postal Service) to mail a 1st class envelope. Some time went by before I was able to use the stamp to mail a letter, and by the time I did get around to mailing it - the price had gone up and my postage stamp was no longer valid - without kicking in an additional amount. After a lot of complaints to Congressmen and Senators, the company that sold the stamps (US Postal Service) now have an alternative to get the government off their backs - it's called a "Forever" Stamp.

That is just a 'soft' gouge, but it does show how endemic that kind of practice is. And it has been around a long time. Two thousand five hundred years ago the ancient Romans had a saying about it - "Caveat de empitor". Which they picked up from the Greeks, who had the same saying (only in Greek) five hundred years earlier. The Greeks probably picked it up from the Persians, who got it from the Sumerians, who got it from . . . .
Well, there is a tale about a fellow who a few years earlier who bought an apple from a beautiful maiden, who had told him all about the good things of the apple, but neglected to say anything about the bad things (of which here were many) - at the time he thought it was a good thing - but, alas, things turned out badly. Or so I am told.

Caveat de empitor - Buyer beware !

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Ever heard of VolksWagen ? It does not get more reputable than that.


and they had their best year ever and outsold everyone else......................

sometimes bad press is good press!

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I don't get it. The whole thing is about H/F saying a tool sold for $49 when it really sold for $29, but is now on sale for $19. Who cares what it sold for or what it is said to have sold for. You are buying it now because it is a price you like.

Anyone who doesn't know sales, advertising, and rebates are simply ways to sell more stuff shouldn't be allowed to play with money. :)

Get over it, grow up, and have a brain. :eek:

Re: H-F class action suit
 

Ever wonder about those ads where something is thrown in as a bonus and a value is put on it? We hear things like: "Free with every purchase, you get a free widget worth $49." I'd like to see them justify the $49 figure.

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Is a WIDGET a small Woman? Sounds like a GOOD deal to me:D
Bill Strange

Re: H-F class action suit
 

ORDER NOW AND RECIVE A FREE GIZMO VALUED AT 19.95 BUT YOURS FREE IF YOU PAY SHIPING! ORDER NOW!!

or

NOT SOLD IN STORES - yet ends up in every Walgreens and bed bath and beyond across the country for 3/4 of the cost

Id like for them to go after those companies.

And i agree with Tom W's statement - who cares what they say it claims it sells for or what its valued at. Your still deciding to buy it at the lower price or not...If thats "illegal" or "sue worthy" better start sueing every single car dealer across the country for advertising MSRP on the window sticker yet its always "on sale" or tagged" or whatever crap they claim for less.

A local furniture store here got shut down due to the fact they were advertising in radio/ newspaper/ and by people physically waving signs around town their store closing. That "closing" went on for 4 years haha.

Re: H-F class action suit
 

I cant ad much to this thread, but I have seen h-f fiyer's have the same item in two places with different prices!

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Like everything else-if the price matches the quality I want and I am happy about it, I buy it. Who really doesn't know that most of the HF ads are hype? Greedy attorneys out there (that may be redundant).

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A few years ago there was someone that went around and looked for products with a patent number on it. Styrofoam cups and the like that have the patent number as part of the mold. He would then look up the patent and if expired, would sue the company for each item with the patent number on it. Made a small fortune.

As for this suit, does anyone really believe it when any company states a "compared to price"? Remember the recent law suit against Lowes because a 2x4 is not really 2" x 4"? Maybe I can sue because a man hole cover does not really cover a man's hole!

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Hate they have 4 different prices for the same thing! FOUR. MSRP, Coupon, Club, and Internet and they just smile. I'd rather pay 2 or 3 times for something made in US or Europe. My son-in-laws HF rule: but nothing electrical or with a blade. So, I got some nice moving blankets for $6.

Re: H-F class action suit
 

US made moving blankets are available for $39.95...

https://www.movingblankets.com/usa-m...single--80-lbs

Can we assume you will be returning the HF ones?

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The warning tag says not to use it as a sleeping blanket. Maybe we can start a lawsuit for calling it a blanket, since it isn't a real blanket.

BTW, I sleep on them and under them when I'm at a swap meet and sleep in my car. :D

Sale on brains, now $2 a pound. Compare with TV lawyers brains at 30 cents a pound.

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Here's a paragraph from the email I received a bit more than your 3m figure:

"If, after payments for all valid claims have been calculated, the total amount paid to Class Members, plus administrative fees, plus attorney’s fees, is less than $23 million, Class Members with valid claims may be eligible for additional compensation on a pro rata basis. The amount of the additional compensation will depend on what kind of documentation provided with your Claim Form, whether you opted for a cash payment or a gift card, and the number of valid claims."

I agree with Tom and others all I'm worried about is final cost to me which I feel things I have purchased there have been very reasonable

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Lots of misinformation in this thread.

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Bill, how many alias's do you have. Maybe Bill - HF??

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Ronn, I own a VW TDI, but older than those affected, and I won't buy another German Car. Why? certainly not it's fuel mileage, which is excellent! Certainly not the car's handling, which is the same as my SAAB 9000 (Excellent!) It's the fact that it's over engineered (It's a German Thing) and their propensity to want to be the vendor for their cars for the rest of the car's working life. All the fluids, buy the manual, everything from the engine oil to the ATF, antifreeze, brake fluid, Have I forgotten anything? All are proprietory! Dealers substitute Castrol Synthetic for engine oil, but that's the only thing Every thing else must be purchased from VW. Maybe not enough research has been done. But this is not a good thing and I'm not going to play their game.And don't get me started on their key chips! Screw VW!

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My experience with class action suits is that the lawyers managing the suit get the biggest slice of the award for service and administrative fees. Individuals participating in the suit get very little out of it.

The class action suit I got involved in was with GM and their defective automatic transmissions circa 1980. I settled on the side with a GM VP, so my transmission repair was paid for.

Re: H-F class action suit
 

friend of mines was affected, had a choice of them buying the car back for msrp or get a check. he decided to keep the car and take the $7k+ check.

Yea i wouldnt own a modern VW - ive always heard they have electrical issues alot.

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I wouldnt own a SAAB either ....lol

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you mean its not part military jet like their commercials claim?!?!?:rolleyes::p

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I'm not sold on many of the newer cars, but I do own a few VW diesel Rabbits from 1979 and 1980, and they are excellent (except for the water leaking past the windshield and onto the fuse box), plus they all get 55 MPG, and are easy to work on.

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What happened to "caveat emptor"????? I think this guy is an idiot and does not want to accept responsibility for his own stupid mistake.

...or for that matter "common sense". (oop...forgot...it's not so common anymore)

Common sense is that thing that makes you look up a couple of sources for an item that you are going to buy and comparative shop...with one of the items being how much use is this tool going to get.
I do brake line fabrication all the time so I didn't buy any of the tools from HF...I spent $250 for a ktool international flaring tool.
BUT.... I occasionally do truck transmissions...so I got the HF lift for $hundreds less.

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Hmmm, is it really illegal to sell a product with an expired patent? Why? Do you have source material for this? I'm really interested in doing further research. Thanks.

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HF-------- Harbor FREIGHT......whew when I first read this I thought somebody was suing Henry Ford:eek:

Re: H-F class action suit
 

After my second GM transmission failure that GM COULD NOT FIX I have NOT bought another GM product and WILL NOT. None of my children drive GM products. The second one was 48 miles out of warranty and the best GM headquarters would offer me was free parts if I paid the labor.

Guess who won. I wouldn't have one if you gave it to me.

Ted

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I think he means that it is illegal to sell an item with an expired patent IF it still carries the patent number on the item

(I have no idea if this is actually true or not)

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Supreme court says yes

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Yep, lots of mis-information here. I just do not understand why some folks think it is OK for a business to lie about their product and get away with it.

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I received the notice of the HF class action via eMail a couple of days ago. I pretty much just ignored it, didn't bother to actually read all of it.

I just figured that it really wasn't worth my time, since if I totalled up every thing I have ever bought from HF, and I was awarded 100%, I wouldn't have enough to buy Sunday Dinner.