Only in California...

North Carolina-based Lowe's Home Centers has been ordered to pay $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit by prosecutors from Marin and four other counties alleging inaccurate and misleading advertising, the district attorney's office announced Wednesday.

The settlement, ordered by Marin Superior Court Judge Paul M. Haakenson, is the culmination of a civil enforcement action filed in Marin Superior Court and led by the district attorneys of Marin, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. It was alleged Lowe's stores throughout the state unlawfully advertised structural dimensional building products for sale, such as lumber, using incorrect product dimensions. In some instances, Lowe's advertisements restated misleading or inaccurate product dimensions provided by the manufacturers or suppliers.

"Consumers should expect when making product purchases that retailers are providing accurate information especially when misinformation could adversely affect building projects that more often than not rely on precise measurements," said District Attorney Ed Berberian.

Karen Cobb, spokesperson for Lowe's, said in a statement: "Periodically, representatives of local Weights and Measures departments visit retailers and they expressed concerns about common product measurements, such as a 2x4 piece of lumber. These visits were initiated as a result of standards set by California's Division of Measurement Standards, which relies upon guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology concerning the sale of certain commodity products.

"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 (2x4) and the actual product dimensions (1.5 x 3.5 inches).

http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_26419809/marin-judge-orders-lowes-home-centers-pay-1

Wait, the issue here is that Californians do not know that a 2x4 isn't actually 2x4?

Morans. Penalizing Lowe's for customer stupidity is what makes America great.

Time for California to sue the Big 10 for not reflecting the actual number of schools in the conference.

My favorite line was from the DA:

"Consumers should expect when making product purchases that retailers are providing accurate information especially when misinformation could adversely affect building projects that more often than not rely on precise measurements," said District Attorney Ed Berberian.

Ed has obviously never built anything but a legal case.

Wow. Just wow. The level of stupidity involved is beyond the pale. When are stupid people going to be held accountable for being stupid? If a stupid person attempts a project without educating themselves about the details and wastes a bunch of money, so they sue as if they were misled, when is there going to be a judge that just tells them that they're stupid and deserved it?

Code_Warrior wrote:Wow.  Just wow.  The level of stupidity involved is beyond the pale.  When are stupid people going to be held accountable for being stupid?  If a stupid person attempts a project without educating themselves about the details and wastes a bunch of money, so they sue as if they were misled, when is there going to be a judge that just tells them that they're stupid and deserved it?

The short answer to your question is never. Nobody is responsible for anything anymore, unless your initials are GWB, then you are responsible for everything.