Consumer Reports – December 2018

prices,” which it labeled “list price,”

“compare at,” or “compare.” The

trial court found that Overstock had

consistently used advertised reference

prices created by various methods that

were “designed to overstate the amount

of savings to be enjoyed by shopping

on the Overstock site.” When asked

for comment, Overstock told us it had

nothing further to add.

This past April, Neiman Marcus agreed

to pay $2.9 million to settle a class-action

lawsuit that alleged the company misled

consumers at its Last Call stores in

California by putting a false original

price on price tags. The suit claimed that

the goods were never actually ofered for

sale at the original price, as suggested

by the price tag, and that the false

higher price was designed to deceive

consumers into believing they were

getting a bargain by purchasing goods

at Last Call. Neiman Marcus did not

admit liability to any of the class-action

lawsuit allegations. Michael Kors and

Ann Taylor reached similar settlements

in cases based on similar claims. Neither

responded to our request for a comment.

In earlier, more costly settlements,

JCPenney and girls’ clothing chain

Justice agreed to pay $50 million and

$50.8 million, respectively, to settle

HOW

TO MAKE

SURE YOU

NEVER

OVERPAY

This holiday season there will be no shortage of sales

come-ons from stores. The only way to know whether

deals are real is to compare prices offered by other

retailers. You can do a manual check of all the items you

want at a variety of retailers, but this approach can be

very time-consuming.

That’s why digital options offer a lot of convenience.

But read the privacy and terms-of-use disclosures before

using these tools to make sure you’re comfortable with

the amount of information they collect. If you are, this

arsenal of apps, alerts, and browser add-ons can help

level the playing field, at least a bit. Here are some to

consider, and when to employ them.

Browser

Extensions

These are plug-ins that

you add to Chrome,

Firefox, Safari, or almost

any web browser—and

most (including the

ones listed here) are free.

They scour the web for

discounts, coupons, and

deals to bring you the

best prices every time

you shop.

EXAMPLES:

InvisibleHand, PriceBlink,

The Camelizer

Price Alerts

Enter items you’re

searching for, and these

apps will let you know

when prices for the items

have dropped.

EXAMPLES:

Camelcamel camel,

Price Tracker,

Shop It To Me, Slickdeals

Price

Comparison

Apps

Use these while

shopping in stores to

find better deals if they

are available from

competitors, often online

but sometimes at local

stores as well.

EXAMPLES:

BuyVia, NowDiscount,

ScanLife, ShopSavvy

Coupon

Apps

These send discounts

online or to your phone

to use when you check

out in stores.

EXAMPLES:

Coupon Sherpa,

SnipSnap

Price

Adjustment

Apps

These link to your email

and search the web

after you charge

something and get

an e-receipt. If the price

drops on a purchased

item, they initiate

the refund, but you may

have to supply bank

and credit card info.

EXAMPLES:

Earny, Moolah,

Paribus, Slice

BEFORE YOU BUY WHILE YOU BUY AFTER YOU BUY

deceptive pricing class actions. In the

JCPenney case, the plaintifs alleged

that the retailer tricked shoppers by

displaying fake “original” prices on

“sale” merchandise. JCPenney agreed

to settle in September 2015, to avoid the

risk of further litigation. In the Justice

case, the plaintifs said the retailer

marked items as “40% of,” when in

reality the items had never been ofered

for sale at the full advertised price.

Justice denied all of the claims and says

it did nothing wrong, but it agreed to

settle the case in July 2016. Justice didn’t

return our calls for comment. JCPenney

emailed that it “uses a promotional

40 CR.ORG DECEMBER 2018