Lawsuits pending in other Southern California cities
A lawsuit accusing Pavilions on Montana Avenue of overcharging customers is set to go before a Malibu jury next month.
Superior Court Judge Lawrence J. Mira continued the case last week at the request of the Santa Monica city attorney’s office, after denying the city’s motion to exclude evidence by the defense.
Pavilions, which is owned by Vons Companies, Inc., is accused by the City of Santa Monica of charging “ValuePlus” members more at the check-out line than was advertised in the aisle.
Deputy City Attorney Eda Suh requested Friday that Vons’ attorneys be banned from arguing that customers should have read the fine print on the advertisements in question, where the discount dates were allegedly listed.
4F8,“It is unlawful to charge a price that is more than what is advertised, posted or quoted,” she said. “If the store chooses to put up more than one price, the store risks having to sell the item at the lower price (whether or not it has expired).”
Vons attorneys maintained that the expiration dates were perfectly legal. They argued that shoppers could clearly read the labels and said they were only left up because Pavilions workers were too busy to take them down.
“There were sales tags adjacent (to the items), but they had expiration dates clearly visible,” attorney Fred DiBernardo said. “(The city attorney) basically wants to pretend that that date doesn’t exist on the sign.”
Mira denied Suh’s motion, ruling that Vons is able to present the evidence in question to jurors.
Suh then asked the court for the extension. Suh said she hopes to win an appeal on the denied motion before the case goes to trial next month.
Vons currently faces similar lawsuits in the cities of Ventura, Pasadena and Van Nuys.
Santa Monica filed criminal charges after an Oct. 31, 2001 investigation by the Los Angeles County Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures revealed that six of the 20 items selected were incorrectly scanned, resulting in overcharges.
During the investigation, an official chose items that were advertised as on sale, but the offer had expired between one and three days prior, Suh said.
Pavilions’ policy is that a customer can get a refund if he or she realizes they paid for an item that was not on sale thinking it was. However, bottles of wine can’t be returned, according to state law.
Vons Companies, Inc. is charged with six counts of violating the business and professions code for charging higher than the posted price on sale items. Vons also is charged with one count of violating of the business and professions code for disseminating false and misleading advertisements.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 10, 2003. Read the original PDF.