Schneiderman announces settlement with Sears over refund policy
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman on Thursday announced that his office has reached a settlement with Sears, Roebuck and Co. over a deceptive refund policy that the retailer applied to consumers who participated in its “Come Back Cash” promotion.
In the promotion, a consumer who purchased merchandise above a “qualifying threshold” amount was given a $10 or $20 promotional award card. However, if the consumer later returned some of the merchandise, Sears reduced the refund by a pro-rated amount of the value of the award card, even if the cost of the unreturned merchandise remained above the qualifying threshold and/or if the customer did not cash in the award.
The company has agreed to pay $150,000 in fines and has already reformed the policy. The multi-national retailer, headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, operates 45 stores in New York.