Lawyer of the Day: Crusader Calls Sears's Bluff

We’ve all seen commercials where a company promises to meet a competitor’s lowest price on an item. But a Long Island lawyer decided to put one of these guarantees to the test:

In its advertising, Sears vows to match competitors’ prices, but one Long Island lawyer has been walking a long road of disillusionment after the retailer refused to live up to its promises. Back in 2007, when Warren Dank showed employees at a Hicksville Sears ad clippings from competitors selling a 46-inch flat-screen for as low as $2,400–$1,200 less than what Sears was charging for the exact same product–a manager refused to budge on the price. And so Dank found his life’s calling: He drove around to three different Sears outlets in the metropolitan area and was denied the promised discount every time.

This is hero-lawyering at its best. Sure, the remedy might simply be more fine print at the bottom of the screen. And, fine, there could be costs associated with defending against this type of litigation that raises the price of televisions for all consumers. But hey, that’s just more work for more lawyers.

Dank might be stimulating the legal economy, but of course, somebody is going to have to pay:

A lot of people are calling Dank a hero (okay, just us), and he might not disagree, telling the Post: “I’m doing this single-handedly. No one else pushed it this far to go on a crusade.” UPDATE: Mr. Dank just emailed us with the following clarification: “Please set the record straight on your blog that the $100 and/or $300 million is to pay a class action settlement to all of the customers who were deceived and not to me.”

That’s the plaintiff’s bar, hard at work baby! Companies shouldn’t make promises they can’t keep.

Lawyer Sues Sears for Millions Over Their Flat Screen Prices [Gothamist]

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