Deceptive Pricing Lawsuits

This morning on The Today Show, there was a story that caught my attention. Kohl's and Penny's are being sued in a class action lawsuit that alleges a deliberate attempt to deceive the public about the prices they charge. It's going to be an interesting story to watch. Penny's just retreated from a valiant effort to move away from the stupid practice pf claiming something to be priced higher, available now for a "reduced price". Penny's was saying enough of this, let's just charge a fair price and be done with it. The public HATED it. That's right, they reacted VERY badly, stopped shopping there, caused Penny's to abandon the effort to STOP deceiving. Penny's said (for example) this sweater is a great value at $80. The public liked it better when Penny's said "this $175 sweater is available now for you at $89". They gave up. The public is so completely dependent on believing whatever the merchant tells them, that all logic is ignored, and when the perceived savings comparison is removed, they are too often unable to apply their own sense of value. Joesph A Bank does it all the time: Take a suit that may be worth about $200, CLAIM it to be worth $1199, and then tell us that if we buy one, they'll give us 3 free. Great deal? For four crappy suits that would have cost $800 total, that we paid $1199 for? Yet they do very well with this strategy. The lawsuit calls attention to the issue, and it will be fun to see what happens. Again, Penny's tried to get away from it and had to retract. We'll just have to see what happens when the law is applied. For our part, we're just not good liars. Chelsea and Willow Tree charge fair prices (compare brand-to-brand pricing any time, anywhere, and you'll find us to be within a few dollars, often lower), and we add on the level of service and product knowledge one just can't get at places such as are mentioned. Macy's is also listed as a retailer to watch as well in this lawsuit, although they are not a part of the lawsuit. Stay Tuned!