Lead plaintiff James Knapp filed a class action lawsuit against Art.com alleging the online art vendor violated numerous California consumer protection laws. Art.com operates the art and poster websites Art.com, Posters.com, andAllPosters.com. According to court documents, Knapp charges Art.com with offering false and misleading prices for certain art merchandise by claiming the art merchandise was on sale. Knapp asserts Art.com promoted an end date for sales, but immediately after the end dates, the online art purveyor would start additional sales that offered art merchandise prices that were exactly the same as the prices offered on art merchandise during previous sales.
Class counsel insisted in the filing of the class action lawsuit that Art.com never discounted the prices for any of its merchandise. Instead, the lawsuit alleges Art.com charged the same prices during sales events and the periods between sales events. Knapp charges Art.com with deceiving customers into believing Art.com offered merchandise at temporary discounts, which encouraged customers to purchase merchandise “sooner rather than later.” Knapp claims Art.com violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act.
In March of 2017, both parties agreed to a preliminary class action settlement. Despite agreeing to the class action settlement, Art.com denies the allegations submitted by Knapp in the class action lawsuit. However, Art.com agreed to the class action settlement to avoid costly litigation of the case in civil court.
What You Need To Know
Eligible class members comprise the group on consumers “who between February 12,2012 and June 9, 2016 purchased a product from Art.com through the websites Art.com, Posters.com, or AllPosters.com, bought that product pursuant to an advertised sale, and used a coupon code to make the purchase, and had the product shipped to a U.S. address.” Under the terms of the class action settlement, class members will receive up to a $10 voucher that goes towards the purchase of products offered on one of the Art.com websites. Class members have up to 18 months after the date of issue to use the vouchers. The court must grant final approval of the class action settlement, before eligible class members receive the vouchers.
The class action settlement does not require class members to file a claim from. Instead, class members must update contact information with the class action settlement administrator. Stay on top of new information for the case by visiting the class action settlement website www.KnappSettlement.com. The judge presiding over James Knapp v. Art.com Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-00768, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has scheduled the final hearing on August 9, 2017. Class counsel consists of Jason Kim of Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky & Wotkyns LLP and Aubry Wand representing Wand Law Firm.
