I like going to the outlet stores in Massachusetts and other states, but I have a hard time buying some their pricing claims. What I'm talking about is when they have information on the price tag that invites the shopper to "compare at" this price or when the tag says something like "originally priced at." Is there any way to tell if this pricing is deceptive or accurate? Is there any law that forces outlet stores to tell the truth about discounts?
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The Editor, Mark Bernardin, is an attorney living in MA. Please send your suggestions or comments to: TheEditor@malawforum.com
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Editor's Response
Sure. The problem is discovering whether the pricing is deceptive or not. If an outlet store is being untruthful about the former price then that would be a violation of numerous Massachusetts laws and regulations, including Chapter 93A (our consumer protection law). There is also a Massachusetts regulation, 940 CMR 3.04, which states:
No claim or representation shall be made by any means which has the capacity or tendency or effect of deceiving buyers or prospective buyers as to the value or the past, present, common or usual price of a product, or as to any reduction in price of a product, or any saving relating to a product. Savings or value claims utilized in connection with terms such as "originally," "formerly," "regularly," "usually," "comparable value," "list price" or other like terms, expressions or representations must be based on facts provable by the claimant or advertiser.
(1) By his own records; or
(2) By reasonably substantial competitive sales in the trading area where such claims or representations are made, under circumstances and conditions as represented or implied by the claims or representations.
So presumably, if the store claimed that it used to sell the item at $X, they would have to be able to show, "by his own records" that the former price is accurate. In other cases, such as stores that claim their discounted items are sold at other stores at $X, or stores that invite you to "compare at" $X, the accuracy of their claim would depend on "competitive sales in the trading area . . ."
I'm going to guess that the state does not have the resources or the manpower to investigate all discount claims, but if a shopper with a lot of experience with discount shopping notices a flagrant violation of the law, they could certainly contact the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs Hot-line at 617-973-8787.