BB&B will compensate consumers after thread count suit
By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 1/14/2008 12:45:00 PM
Newark, N.J. – Specialty retailer Bed Bath & Beyond has begun notifying customers of a preliminary settlement in a class action law suit charging that it misrepresented thread counts in sheets and other products.
While denying any wrongdoing, the retailer said that under the settlement, for the next five years it will comply with ASTM standards that require thread counts to be labeled according to the number of yarns in a square inch of fabric, regardless of the number of plies, a standard that has also been adopted by the Federal Trade Commission.
Under terms of a court order signed in December, the company has begun sending emails and postcards to consumers and will run newspaper ads about the proposed settlement. Home textiles supplier Synergy, based in Cranford, N.J., is also a defendant in the case. The action was filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey.
The terms of the proposed settlement, which could receive final federal court approval following a May 28 fairness hearing, provide for customers made qualified purchases between Aug. 1, 2000 and Nov. 9, 2007, to have the option of receiving a refund for the goods, a $10 BBB gift card or a 20% discount up to $50, depending on their specific circumstances.
Bed Bath also agreed to pay court costs and attorneys fees up to $290,000.
The case arose from a queen-size sheet set purchased in one of BB&B’s Alabama stores for about $180, claming to be an 800-thread count set. However, the count was allegedly determined by counting two plies.
The original case sought $5 million in damages. It could not be immediately determined how much BB&B will likely pay or how many consumers fall into the affected class under the terms of the settlement.
In addition to Synergy, multi-ply product sold by Bed Bath & Beyond during the period included goods from Britannica Home Fashions, Springs’ Wamsutta, Zorlu, N.I. Teijin Shoji USA, Levinsohn Textile Company, Welcome Industrial Corporation, and Phoenix Down Corporation.
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