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Law360 (July 8, 2020, 5:55 PM EDT) -- The Federal Trade Commission sued online retailer SuperGoodDeals.com in New York federal court Wednesday, saying the site promised to ship orders of personal protective equipment within a day but failed to live up to that promise.
In the complaint, the FTC says the site aimed to capitalize on demand for items like N95 masks, respirators and other PPE as the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold in the U.S., marketing the equipment with the same "Pay Today, Ships Tomorrow" tagline it uses for other goods.
In addition, the FTC said, the site's advertising specifically claimed that orders for N95 masks would ship the following day. But while the company often printed shipping labels for orders the following business day, it frequently waited weeks before sending the products themselves out the door, according to the complaint, which also named the retailer's owner and CEO, Kevin J. Lipsitz.
In many cases, SuperGoodDeals.com did not notify customers about the delays, and the site also ignored hundreds of customer complaints over the delays, according to the FTC.
The complaint cites several instances in which customers ordered masks, including for child welfare workers or family members. In some cases, customers paid extra for overnight or two-day shipping but as of two weeks later still had not received the items or notification from the site, the complaint said.
Despite failing to deliver the items and ignoring hundreds of complaints, the site continued to advertise that the items were in stock and ready to be shipped one business day after ordering, the FTC said.
The site also did not offer customers a choice to either consent to the delay or cancel and refund their order. The site also didn't cancel or refund orders when customers directly demanded such, according to the complaint.
In addition to the claims about the PPE delays, the FTC also accused the site of selling counterfeit goods, such as a Yeti-branded beverage bottle the retailer claimed was authentic but was instead allegedly a knockoff.
The complaint alleges these misrepresentations violate the FTC Act and asks the court for a permanent injunction against any further violations. In addition, the FTC is asking the court to order SuperGoodDeals.com to pay restitution, refund money to its customers and make a public notification about the violations.
Representatives for the FTC and SuperGoodDeals.com could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
The FTC is represented in-house by Savvas S. Diacosavvas, Brian M. Welke and Evan M. Mendelson.
Counsel information for SuperGoodDeals.com was not immediately available.
The case is Federal Trade Commission v. SuperGoodDeals.com Inc. et al., case number 1:20-cv-03027, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
--Editing by Daniel King.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
