Jones Vacuum Knows Vacuums
Do you really know what you’re getting when you buy a vacuum from a big box store? Not even the big retailers know what they’re selling you when it comes to household vacuum cleaners these days.
Rest assured Rusty Jones, owner of Jones Vacuum Center in Walterboro South Carolina is the vacuum cleaner expert in the low country area. See what can happen in the article below when you don’t deal with the experts:
Best Buy Gets Sucked Into Vacuum Filter Class Action
Law360, New York (September 11, 2015, 7:35 PM ET) — Best Buy Co. was slapped with a proposed class action Friday in Virginia federal court claiming the international electronics retailer intentionally and falsely advertised a line of Electrolux vacuum cleaners as having HEPA filters.
Lead plaintiff Christopher L. Early said the Electrolux model EL4071A, which he purchased from a Glen Allen, Va., Best Buy in June, does not contain a certified HEPA filter as the company claimed in stores and advertisements. Instead, the vacuums contain a filter only described by Electrolux as an “allergen” filter and Early argues Best Buy knew or should have known the vacuum filter did “not meet the standards of efficiency for a HEPA filter … and is a substantially inferior filtration system.”
A high-efficiency particulate arrestance or HEPA filter is a type of air filter certified by the U.S. Department of Energy often used to help with indoor allergies and asthma. When used in a vacuum cleaner, the filter works to limit the amount of allergen and dust particles emitted into the air while it’s running, according to the complaint.
“Notwithstanding the material differences between a HEPA vacuum cleaner filter and a non-HEPA vacuum cleaner filter, Best Buy deliberately and willfully misrepresented in advertising and selling the Electrolux model EL4071A vacuum cleaner to consumers that such vacuums provided HEPA air filtration performance when, in fact, they did not,” Early said.
Best Buy’s allegedly false advertisements include in-store signage, advertisements and online product descriptions and specifications for the vacuum, according to the complaint.
Specifically, Early says the online description of the vacuum made numerous references to its HEPA filter and that he decided to purchase the vacuum “in reliance on the accuracy of the Best Buy online advertisement.”
The vacuum is currently described as a “HEPA bagless canister vacuum” on Best Buy’s website and sells for $199.99.
After purchasing the vacuum, Early says he looked through the Electrolux manual for information on replacing the filter, but found no mention of a HEPA filter. After calling Electrolux, the company confirmed the vacuum only contained an allergen filter that is not HEPA certified.
Early is seeking unspecified damages and legal fees, claiming Best Buy is in breach of express and implied warranties, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the Virginia Consumer Protection Act and consumer protection laws of various states and is guilty of false advertising.
“Best Buy’s massive campaign to deceive U.S. consumers concerning the supposed health benefits of the Electrolux model EL4071A vacuum cleaner have caused harm to the plaintiff and the members of the proposed class and will continue to do so as long as Best Buy continues to make such representations and fails to notify its customers of its false representations,” the complaint stated.
The proposed class contains at least 100 members with claims exceeding $5 million, according to the complaint.
Counsel for Early and representatives of Best Buy could not be reached Friday for comment.
Counsel for Best Buy could not be determined Friday.
Early is represented by Turner A. Broughton, Robert D. Perrow and Brendan D. O’Toole of Williams Mullen.
The case is Christopher L. Early v. Best Buy Co. Inc., case number 3:15-cv-00549, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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