Second Complaint Alleges LG, Best Buy Duped Consumers on TV Refresh Rates

A second complaint in as many years alleging LG and Best Buy duped consumers in how they merchandised an LG TV’s refresh rates was combined with the first complaint under an order (in Pacer) signed Friday by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis. Los Angeles County resident Ivan Villa Lara “stood in line for hours” on Thanksgiving Day 2013 at a Best Buy store in Compton, California, where he paid a Black Friday-discounted $499 to buy a 55-inch LG set, said his Nov. 27 complaint (in Pacer). After bringing the TV home, Villa Lara “noticed that the television’s images were not as clear as expected,” it said. “Conducting his own research through various forums online, Villa Lara came to learn that his television’s actual refresh rate was 60Hz. Had Villa Lara known that the actual refresh rate of the television was 60Hz -- not 120Hz as advertised -- he would not have purchased the television or, alternatively, would not have been willing to pay as much for it.” Villa Lara’s allegations were identical to those in a complaint (in Pacer) filed in Minneapolis in May 2016 and amended (in Pacer) a year later by the same five-lawyer team on behalf of different plaintiffs. None of the lawyers commented Monday about why Villa Lara waited four years before bringing his action or why they filed a second complaint with allegations identical to the first. LG and Best Buy representatives didn’t comment Monday. LG argued in a June dismissal motion (in Pacer) on the amended complaint that the plaintiffs “failed to plead an ascertainable loss given the deeply discounted price they paid for their television.”