T.J. Maxx Sued Over Deceptive 'Compare At' Prices

(FOX 11) A new lawsuit against T.J. Maxx accuses the brand of misleading customers with the comparison prices it prints on tags.

Two customers in California have proposed a class-action lawsuit against the parent company of T.J. Maxx, TJX Cos. Inc., for allegedly "using deceptive comparative prices to trick its customers into mistakenly believing they are saving specific and substantial amounts on name brand items."

The suit was filed July 17 in California federal court.

Racked reports Staci Chester and Daniel Friedman said they believed that the "compare at" price tags showed the difference between an item's discount store price and the full retail price -- but later found out that the higher prices were only estimates that T.J. Maxx's buying staff personally came up with rather than factual pricing.

A company spokeswoman told the Huffington Post that T.J. Maxx prints explanations of its "compare at" prices in store signage as well as online.

"At T.J. Maxx, we are committed to delivering exceptional value to our customers every day -- it is the foundation of our business," she told The Huffington Post. "We tell our customers what we mean by 'compare at' prices, both through signage in our stores as well as language on our T.J. Maxx website. Transparency is important to us and integrity is ingrained in our culture. Beyond that, we do not comment on pending litigation."

Regardless of whether the suit holds up in court, "Maxxinistas" are still saving money on designer apparel -- just maybe not as much as one originally thought.

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