Hansen v. Newegg.com Ams., Inc.

236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 61, 25 Cal. App. 5th 714
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJuly 31, 2018
DocketB271477
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 61 (Hansen v. Newegg.com Ams., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hansen v. Newegg.com Ams., Inc., 236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 61, 25 Cal. App. 5th 714 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

ZELON, Acting P.J.

*719Plaintiff M. George Hansen filed false advertising claims under the unfair competition law ( Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 ), the false advertising law ( Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17500 et seq . ) and the Consumers Legal Remedies Act ( Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq . ) alleging that electronics retailer Newegg.com used fictitious former price information in its advertisements that mislead customers to believe they were receiving merchandise at a discounted price. Hansen further alleged that he had relied on fictitious former price information in making two purchases from Newegg's website, and that he would not have made the purchases had he known the former price information was false.

Newegg filed a demurrer arguing that Hansen lacked standing to pursue his claims because he had not lost "any money *64or property" (see Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 17204, 17535 ) as a result of the allegedly false former price representations. More specifically, Newegg contended that although Hansen alleged he had spent money in reliance on the false former price representations, his complaint showed he received the "benefit of his bargain," having obtained the product he wanted at the price it was offered. The trial court agreed, and sustained the demurrer without leave to amend. We reverse. *720FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Summary of the Complaint

Plaintiff M. George Hansen filed a class action complaint against electronics retailer Newegg.com alleging claims under the unfair competition law ( Bus. & Prof. Code, § 172001 ) (UCL), the false advertising law ( § 17500, et seq . ) (FAL) and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act ( Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq . ) (CLRA). The complaint alleged that Newegg's website advertised fictitious former price and discount information that was intended to induce customers to purchase its products: "When advertising products on its website, Newegg displays the price at which it offers the product ... as well as the 'list' price. This 'list' price is displayed in gray struck-through typeface (e.g. '$2099.99') directly above [Newegg's] offer price. [Newegg] further advertises that the difference between this 'list' price and the offer price is some form of discount or purported savings (e.g. 'Save: $200.00 (29%)'). Such presentation induces reasonable consumers into believing that the 'list' price represents either the product's normal price on [Newegg's] website and/or prevailing price in the market. However, these advertised 'discounts' are completely illusory or grossly overstated. [¶] This is because the 'list' price used to calculate the quantum of reported 'savings' is not the prevailing market price for ... the same product from one of Newegg's competitors or the price charged by Newegg for the subject item in the recent and normal course of its business. Rather, the 'list' price is the highest price the product has ever been advertised at, regardless of when that price was advertised, or is simply a work of fiction. ... [¶] The reality is that no discount is provided over Newegg's everyday pricing. Its customers are not realizing the savings portrayed or expected by purchasing these advertised 'discounted' products from Newegg."

Hansen's complaint further alleged that he had relied on fictitious former price information when purchasing two computer components from Newegg's website: a "Corsair ... 850-watt Power Supply" and a "Gigabyte Motherboard." According to the complaint, the Corsair power supply was advertised as having a former "list" price of $189.99, and an offer price of $169.99, resulting in a "$20.00" discount; the Gigabyte Motherboard was advertised as having a former "list" price of $159.99, and an offer price of $152.99, resulting in a "$7.00" discount. Hansen asserted that the true former price of both products was equal to or less than the offer price, and that he had therefore received no actual discount. Hansen further asserted that he would not have purchased the products had he known the "true nature of [the] discounts."

*721The complaint alleged Newegg's use of false or misleading former price information violated the UCL ( § 17200 ) and section 17501 of the FAL, which specifically regulates advertisements that purport to *65convey the former price of a product. The complaint also alleged that Newegg's conduct violated a provision of the CLRA prohibiting the use of false or misleading statements regarding price reductions. (See Civ. Code, § 1770, subd. (a)(13).)

B. Summary of Newegg's Demurrer

Newegg filed a demurrer arguing that Hansen lacked "standing to ... assert any claim under the FAL, UCL or CLRA" because he had "suffered no loss of money or property as a result of Newegg's actions." According to Newegg, Hansen's complaint showed he had received the "products he wanted for the prices he agreed to pay"; he had not alleged that "the products were different than what he wanted, were unsatisfactory in any way, or were worth less than what he paid for them." Accordingly, he had suffered no form of "economic injury."2

Hansen opposed the demurrer, arguing that under the California Supreme Court's holding in Kwikset Corp. v. Superior Court (2011) 51 Cal.4th 310, 120 Cal.Rptr.3d 741, 246 P.3d 877 ( Kwikset ), a plaintiff may satisfy the standing requirements of the UCL and FAL by alleging that he or she was "deceived by a product's label into spending money to purchase the product, and would not have purchased it otherwise." ( Id . at p. 317, 120 Cal.Rptr.3d 741, 246 P.3d 877.) Hansen contended his complaint satisfied those requirements, alleging that: (1) he had relied on Newegg's fictitious former price information when making his purchases; and (2) he would not have purchased the products but for the false former price representations.

The trial court agreed with Newegg, concluding that Hansen had not satisfied "the standing requirement[s]" because his complaint showed he had received the product that he ordered "at a price he agreed to pay." The court explained that unlike the plaintiffs in Kwikset , who alleged that the products they purchased had been falsely labeled as "Made in the U.S.A," Hansen did not dispute that he had received "[e]xactly what he ordered." The court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend, and subsequently entered judgment dismissing the matter.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 61, 25 Cal. App. 5th 714, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hansen-v-neweggcom-ams-inc-calctapp5d-2018.