Rockford Retail Chains Being Sued Over Deceptive Sales Practices

You are looking for the best deals in Rockford for Christmas shopping. This news may just make you look a little harder.

Four major retailers, all located in Rockford, are being sued in Los Angeles county for making consumers believe they are saving money on sale items, when in actually they are not saving a dime. They are Kohl's, JCPenny, Sears and Macy's.

How this works is they would advertise the item either online or in an published ad. Take for example a dress. The dress would list at a price of say $50, but it is shown on sale for $15. That $50 price was a number that was non existent.

According to NBC NEWS, here are a few other "sale" items:

"JCPenney advertised a maternity swim top for $31.99, supposedly 30 percent off from an "original" price of $46. Kohl's sold Belted Cargo Shorts for $35.99, down from an "original" price $60. Sears sold a Kenmore washing machine for a "regular" price of $1,179.99 and a "sale" price of $999.99."

The lawsuit is being filed in California by the District Attorney of Los Angeles County  Mike Feuer. He comments on what is the biggest problem.

"The retailers never actually sold the items online for more than their "sale" prices."

This is not the first time two of the retailers were sued for this. JCPenny settled out of court for $50 million dollars and Kohl's settled for $6.5 million.

There is an app that will help you make sure you are getting the best deal. Shopsvvy is an app for your smart phone that scans the product you are interested in and shows the price for the same product at different locations.

Also, always go to the manufacturer's website to find out the suggested retail price. If that price is lower than the regular price at the store, beware!