Zara, the popular Spanish clothing and accessories retailer, has been hit with a $5 million lawsuit for "deceptively pricing" their products.
The suit claims that Zara typically uses "bait and switch, or cover-up pricing" to lure in American shoppers, but when the prices (in euros) are converted at the register, consumers are criminally overcharged.
According to Mark Geragos, an attorney for the plaintiffs;
"We estimate between $12 and $15 per item, and if you extrapolate that out, it could be upwards of $1 billion or more...," he said.
In some other cases, stickers with the price listed in American dollars covered up a cheaper price in euros.
"They have some products that are in euros and then when I go to the counter, it changes and it's a little confusing," said shopper Barcev Bilemjin. "Because when I go on my phone and I check the price for USD, it's a little different."
One plaintiff, Devin Rose, outlined another specific instance when he was overcharged by Zara.
"The actual euro-dollar exchange rate would have resulted in his €9.95 shirts costing approximately $11.26 each," the lawsuit reads. "Instead, however, Zara charged Mr. Rose $17.90 per garment, a markup of nearly 60%.” The lawsuit claims that the prices are arbitrarily marked up and "on average has caused consumers to pay $5 to $50 more per item, and billions of dollars in the aggregate," according to the suit.
Zara has vehemently denied the allegations made against them, but if the lawsuit goes through, anyone who has purchased something from Zara could capitalize on this case and receive some of the settlement money.
