Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Washington Attorney General alleges change-of-address company misled consumers into paying processing fee, (Nov 14, 2013)

By Tobias J. Gillett, J.D., LL.M.

The Washington Attorney General has filed a complaint in the King County Superior Court, alleging that an Ohio-based online change-of-address company and its principal deceived consumers into paying an undisclosed service charge and failed to provide full refunds to complaining consumers, the Attorney General’s Office announced yesterday.

Form Giant, LLC offers online change-of-address services through its website, change-of-address.com. According to the complaint, consumers that searched for change-of-address services on Google.com would find a paid advertisement for Form Giant’s services displayed at the top of the results page. Many consumers believed that Form Giant’s website was the official website for the United States Postal Service’s change-of-address service.

The initial landing page on the website stated only that “There is a one dollar processing fee charged by the USPS for submitting an online address change request that must be paid with a valid debit or credit card.” Although the screen that appeared when a consumer submitted his or her address information contained the statement “To prevent fraudulent address changes and to cover the cost of processing and handling, you authorize us to charge your credit or debit card a one-time $19.95 fee,” from February 2013 to at least July 24, 2013, Form Giant allegedly programmed the website to automatically scroll down to the middle of the page, where credit card information was entered, thus obscuring the statement.

Consumers were led to believe that they would only be charged the $1.00 processing charge, according to the Attorney General, at least until they received their credit card statement. Although many consumers complained, Form Giant would only offer a partial refund, ranging from $5.00 to $10.00, rather than providing a full refund, or even fail to respond entirely.

The lawsuit asserts claims for failure to disclose material facts and unfair and deceptive refund and cancellation policies that allegedly constituted unfair and deceptive acts and practices and unfair methods of competition in violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act. The complaint seeks a judgment that the company and its principal engaged in the alleged conduct; a judgment that the conduct violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act; a permanent injunction against further continuance of the unlawful conduct; civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation; restitution; costs of suit; attorneys’ fees; and any other just and proper relief.

The complaint is State of Washington v. Form Giant, LLC.

Attorneys: Paula Selis for the State of Washington.

Companies: Form Giant, LLC

News: ConsumerProtection StateUnfairTradePractices WashingtonNews