Macy’s Gold Jewelry Class Action Lawsuit
Macy’s Gold Jewelry Class Action Lawsuit
A federal class action lawsuit claims Macy’s deceptively advertises its jewelry as “fine gold” when it is actually gold-plated sterling silver, tricking customers into believing they’re buying jewelry more valuable than it actually is.
Lead Plaintiff Natalya Barsukova alleges in the Macy’s jewelry class action lawsuit that she purchased earrings in April 2010 from a Macy’s store in Burlington, Massachusetts, that were labeled as “fine gold” and were confirmed by a salesperson to be real gold, but were in fact sterling silver covered with a thin layer of gold or gold alloy.
Two years after she bought them, the earrings “showed signs of tarnish and discoloration, with the middle loop on the earring turning from a gold color to almost completely gray,” the class action lawsuit says, so Barsukova took the earrings to a jeweler. That’s when she discovered they were gold-platted sliver and not real gold.
Barsukova believes “thousands of consumers” have been affected by Macy’s alleged false advertising of its “gold” jewelry, and wants Macy’s to provide them full refunds and pay punitive damages for its alleged breach of contract.
According to the class action lawsuit, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules prohibit the use of the word “gold” or any abbreviation to describe all or part of any product not composed entirely of gold or a gold alloy. The use of the word “gold” or its abbreviation is permitted only if the product is “adequately qualified” to indicate that the product or part is only surface-plated with gold.
A similar class action lawsuit was filed against JC Penny earlier this year, which accuses the retailer of falsely advertising that its jewelry is more valuable and of a higher quality than it actually is.
Barsukova is seeking to represent a proposed class of all Macy’s customers who purchased jewelry from Macy’s labeled and sold as “Gold” or “Fine Gold” that was in fact gold-plated silver or sterling silver.
Find all the details HERE.
