BlueHippo, Seller Of Computers On TV, Agrees To Pay Consumers
According to the Baltimore Sun, Maryland retailer BlueHippo has reached an agreement with the FTC to pay consumers up to $5 million to settle charges that it improperly took money from customers without providing the promised electronics.
Consumers will receive a claim form from the FTC if they:
Consumers may call the FTC’s consumer response center at 877-382-4357 with any questions. The federal agency will handle refunds.
In television and radio advertisements that aired around the country, BlueHippo promised to ship computers to customers after a down payment of $99 to $124, followed by a series of automatic withdrawals from their bank accounts, according to the FTC. But the deductions began before the company informed consumers that it had a no- refund policy if they canceled before delivery.
The FTC attorney said some buyers paid hundreds of dollars but did not receive the equipment in the promised amount of time.
“Consumers understood that after 13 weeks of payments they would have a computer shipped to them,” he said. When the computers didn’t arrive, “people stopped making payments because their product was not delivered.” But BlueHippo did not return the money.
The FTC alleged that by failing to ship merchandise in a reasonable time frame or denying consumers the right to cancel and get a refund, BlueHippo violated the FTC’s mail-order rule. Officials said the company also might have violated the federal Truth in Lending Act and its regulations by not giving consumers written disclosures before the transactions were made. The commission also alleged that the company violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and its regulations by offering credit on the condition of repayment by preauthorized debits.
Source: Baltimore Sun.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment