{"id":42326,"date":"2023-09-11T14:42:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T18:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d56fg8tfg.fitnews.club\/finance\/online-shoe-seller-hey-dude-inc-to-pay-1-95-million-for-violating-ftcs-mail-internet-and-telephone-order-rule-and-suppressing-negative-consumer-reviews\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T14:42:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T18:42:17","slug":"online-shoe-seller-hey-dude-inc-to-pay-1-95-million-for-violating-ftcs-mail-internet-and-telephone-order-rule-and-suppressing-negative-consumer-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d56fg8tfg.fitnews.club\/finance\/online-shoe-seller-hey-dude-inc-to-pay-1-95-million-for-violating-ftcs-mail-internet-and-telephone-order-rule-and-suppressing-negative-consumer-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Shoe Seller Hey Dude, Inc. to Pay $1.95 Million for Violating FTC\u2019s Mail, Internet, and Telephone Order Rule and Suppressing Negative Consumer Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"
Online shoe retailer Hey Dude, Inc. (Hey Dude) will pay $1.95 million to the Federal Trade Commission to settle charges that the company misled consumers by suppressing negative reviews, including more than 80 percent of reviews that failed to provide four or more stars out of a possible five. The FTC also contends the company violated the Commission\u2019s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule in several ways between 2020 and 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs this case makes clear, when retailers publish consumer reviews online, they cannot suppress negative reviews to paint a deceptive picture of the consumer experience. And when retailers don\u2019t ship merchandise on time, they must give buyers the option to cancel their orders and promptly get their money back,\u201d said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC\u2019s Bureau of Consumer Protection. \u201cWe will continue to hold online retailers accountable for violations of the FTC Act and other laws we enforce.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hey Dude, which was acquired by Crocs, Inc. in February 2022, advertises, markets, and sells shoes to consumers nationwide on the Internet, using its own website and by soliciting orders via social media advertisements. The FTC\u2019s complaint<\/a>\u00a0charges that Hey Dude, formerly known as Happy One, LLC, violated the FTC\u2019s <\/span><\/span>Mail Order Rule <\/span><\/span>in several ways, including: 1) failing to issue shipping delay notices when it could not timely fulfill consumers\u2019 orders; 2) failing to cancel consumers\u2019 orders and issue prompt refunds after failing to issue such notices; and 3) issuing consumers gift cards instead of sending prompt refunds of the original payment for merchandise ordered but not shipped, as required by the rule. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Hey Dude violated the FTC Act by suppressing negative consumer reviews of its merchandise, according to the complaint. From January 2020 to June 2022, the company, which uses a third-party online management review interface, chose to have all five-star reviews (the best rating) posted on its website with little scrutiny. In many instances, however, it rejected and did not publish less-favorable reviews. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Before June 2022, the complaint alleges Hey Dude\u2019s written policies and procedures instructed staff to publish certain types of reviews only if they were positive. According to the FTC, Hey Dude started publishing all consumer reviews only after finding out it was under investigation by the Commission. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n