How many times have you heard this pitch on TV: "Buy one; get one free." So many times that federal regulators took notice and charged one marketer with allegedly illegal conduct and imposed a monetary judgment of $7.5 million.
Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is making sure that huge settlement is going to refund affected consumers. The FTC said it is mailing 218,254 refund checks, totaling more than $7.2 million to people who bought products deceptively marketed as "buy-one-get-one-free," including Snuggies, the Magic Mesh Door, and other "as-seen-on-TV" type products.
Consumers who bought products marketed by Allstar Marketing Group, LLC will receive checks averaging $33.14.
In March 2015, the FTC alleged that since at least 1999, Allstar used direct marketing TV commercials to sell its products. Allstar's pitch often was the same, not matter the product —a "buy-one-get-one-free" offer that did not disclose all the costs, the FTC alelges. Because the ordering process was confusing, some customers also were charged for more products than they wanted, the agency said.
The New York Office of Attorney General, which filed a parallel action against Allstar, has assisted with the refund planning process.
Analytics, the refund administrator for this matter, will begin mailing refund checks this week. Consumers should receive their refund checks this month, and they must be cashed within 60 days or they will become void. The FTC never requires consumers to pay money or provide information to cash refund checks. Consumers who have questions should call 1-877-982-1294.