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Suit Against
Adjustable Bed Maker Joined by AARP and San Francisco Legal Group for
Elderly
July 23, 2004 A suit brought by an 87-year
old California woman against The Craftmatic Organization, Inc., makers
of Adjustable Beds, for violating consumer protection laws and
targeting senior citizens for unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business
practices, has been joined by the AARP
Foundation and the Legal Assistance to the Elderly, Inc., of San
Francisco.
The lawsuit, which is also against Craftmatic of
California, was filed in San Francisco Superior Court under several
state consumer protection statutes, seeks to stop Craftmatic from
engaging in a variety of business practices, including:
-- using a sweepstakes promotion to obtain
consumer's home addresses for the purpose of making high pressure,
in-home sales presentations, without telling consumers of Craftmatic's
intent to do so;
-- misleading consumers with a "price drop" sales
practice in which Craftmatic's sales representatives represent that they
are giving consumers a "special deal" on the Adjustable Beds;
-- failing to fully disclose cancellation policies
as required by law; and,
-- making credit sales without disclosing the
interest rate or other basic truth in lending disclosures required by
law.
Ida Robinson, the plaintiff in the case is an
87-year-old retiree living on a fixed income. She says that she
responded to a television ad promoting Craftmatic's "Win a Free Bed
Sweepstakes," but that she did not realize that entering the contest
would lead to an in-home sales presentation for the Craftmatic
Adjustable Bed. A Craftmatic representative came to her home and gave
her a sales presentation for the bed, including engaging in the "price
drop" sales practice.
According to Mark A. Chavez, a consumer attorney
with Chavez & Gertler, the law firm representing Robinson, a critical
component of Craftmatic's business model is to target vulnerable
consumers for the in-home sale of overpriced beds. "Craftmatic employs a
wide variety of unfair and deceptive practices to induce elderly,
disabled, and ill consumers to buy its products. We intend to force
Craftmatic to clean up its business practices in this state."
Another lawyer for the plaintiffs, Chris
Palamountain, stated that "Craftmatic is building one misleading
business practice upon another upon another to pressure senior citizens
and consumers with disabilities into the purchase of an expensive bed
without providing them even with the opportunity to see the bed, much
less try it out."
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are represented by a
team of lawyers, including Chavez & Gertler LLP, a class action firm
based in Mill Valley, California, the AARP Foundation, a national senior
advocacy group based out of Washington, D.C., and Legal Assistance to
the Elderly, Inc., a San Francisco nonprofit advocacy organization
representing seniors.
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