Lowe’s has new rules regarding how it
can label building products in California. A Superior Court judge laid
out terms by which the retailer must advertise its 2x4s and other
dimensional materials in a $1.6 million settlement order and final judgement filed
on August 27. The order, brought on as part of a civil consumer
protection action, lists three main rules for the retailer to follow
going forward:
The
order, handed down by Judge Paul M. Haakenson, came as a response to a
case involving claims by the Marin County, Calif., district attorney’s
office that the retailer “unlawfully advertised structural dimensional
building products for sale.”
According to the judgement, the retailer was ordered to pay $1.47
million in civil penalties and costs of the investigation, and an
additional $150,000 to fund further consumer protection-related
activities.
Lowe’s spokesperson Amanda Manna said the company has begun to conform to the product description requirements in nearly 100 of its stores across California.
“Consumers should expect when making product purchases that retailers are providing accurate information,” said Marin County District Attorney Edward S. Berberian. “Especially when misinformation could adversely affect building projects that more often than not rely on precise measurements.”
In a statement, Cobb added: “Periodically, representatives of local Weights and Measures departments visit retailers, and they expressed concerns about common product measurements, such as a 2×4 piece of lumber.
“Historically, Lowe’s provided information about product dimensions received from vendors. Moving forward, customers will now be able to locate product by actual and common dimensions as provided by vendors for certain building products. For example, for a piece of lumber commonly known as a 2X4, customers will see both the common name (2×4) and the actual product dimensions (1.5 x 3.5 inches).
“Both Lowe’s and the California DAs agreed that a settlement is in the best interest of all parties. It allows us to continue moving forward with our program to provide both actual and common product dimensions and meet our shared goals.”
The settlement was ordered by Marin Superior Court Judge Paul Haakenson.
Source:
- “Common descriptions” must be followed by actual dimensions and labeled as such. For instance, a 2×4 must be followed with a disclaimer that the wood is actually 1.5-inches by 3.5-inches and include a phrase equal or similar to “actual dimensions.”
- “Popular or common product description,” like the word 2×4, must be “clearly described as ‘popular name,’ ‘popular description,’ or ‘commonly called.'”
- Dimension descriptions are required to use the “inch-pound unit,” meaning they must include abbreviations such as “in., ft., or yd.,” and can’t use symbols like ‘ or ” to denote measurements.
The
order, handed down by Judge Paul M. Haakenson, came as a response to a
case involving claims by the Marin County, Calif., district attorney’s
office that the retailer “unlawfully advertised structural dimensional
building products for sale.”
According to the judgement, the retailer was ordered to pay $1.47
million in civil penalties and costs of the investigation, and an
additional $150,000 to fund further consumer protection-related
activities.Lowe’s spokesperson Amanda Manna said the company has begun to conform to the product description requirements in nearly 100 of its stores across California.
“Consumers should expect when making product purchases that retailers are providing accurate information,” said Marin County District Attorney Edward S. Berberian. “Especially when misinformation could adversely affect building projects that more often than not rely on precise measurements.”
In a statement, Cobb added: “Periodically, representatives of local Weights and Measures departments visit retailers, and they expressed concerns about common product measurements, such as a 2×4 piece of lumber.
“Historically, Lowe’s provided information about product dimensions received from vendors. Moving forward, customers will now be able to locate product by actual and common dimensions as provided by vendors for certain building products. For example, for a piece of lumber commonly known as a 2X4, customers will see both the common name (2×4) and the actual product dimensions (1.5 x 3.5 inches).
“Both Lowe’s and the California DAs agreed that a settlement is in the best interest of all parties. It allows us to continue moving forward with our program to provide both actual and common product dimensions and meet our shared goals.”
The settlement was ordered by Marin Superior Court Judge Paul Haakenson.
Source:
For all that is fuckin holy give it up to the liberals in kalifornia to have sue for the obvious. Everyone and their brother knows that a 2x4 isn't really 2"x4", oh I'm sorry 2in x 4in. For cryin out fuckin loud if your dumb enough not to know that you shouldn't be allowed in the fuckin store or own a house for that fuckin fact. And fuck you marin inferior court judge paul haakenson fuck you
You are dealing with people who think a tape measure is something you measure tapes with. They were probably shocked when they found their smokey bear ruler and measured a 2 x 4 with it and screamed fraud then MONEY.
ReplyDeleteLet me please add my personal 'fuck you kalifornia' .
ReplyDeleteI see that this suit was brought by a district attorney.I bet he never worked a real day in his life,and while he was attempting to make a doll house for his little boy,he couldn't figure out why the framing dimensions didn't add up right.Then he discovered his 2x4 was labeled incorrectly.His only recourse at that point was to sue...
Truly ignorant people always think money fixes everything. If you don't know lumber dimensions, you probably also don't know which end of a fucking hammer to hold. Next they'll sue to have hammer handles labeled. With any luck, one of these numbfucks will put the claw end into his skull and up his IQ a point or 2.
ReplyDeleteAnd may I also add my "FUCK you D.A. Edward S. Berberian and Judge Paul M. Haakenson and anyone else who participated in this litigation confucktion."