New York, NY, Nov. 25--Home Depot Inc. and Lowe's Cos. are facing purported class-action lawsuits alleging their promotions offering payment and interest-free periods on purchases made with in-store credit cards actually force consumers to pay much more interest on existing or future balances.
Representatives at Home Depot, Atlanta, and Lowe's, Mooresville, NC, weren't immediately available for comment.
The law firm of Hagens Berman filed a suit in California against Home Depot and in Washington State against both Home Depot and Lowe's alleging on behalf of consumers violation of the states' consumer-protection laws.
In press releases Monday, the law firm said the complaints charge that Home Depot and Lowe's hid the fact that consumers wouldn't be able to pay off any existing or future in-store credit-card balances without first paying off the interest-free promotional purchase.
Home Depot's promotion allows no payments and no interest for six months on purchases of $299 or more on the Home Depot Consumer Credit Card. The company's Web site states that finance charges accrue from the purchase date, and accrued finance charges will be added to the customer's account for the entire promotional period if the qualifying purchases aren't paid in full before the end of the period or the customer doesn't make required payment when due.
Lowe's offers a similar promotion for certain purchases such as flooring products, with similar language regarding finance charges.
Also named in the lawsuits is General Electric's Monogram Credit Card Bank, the credit-service provider for both Home Depot and Lowe's.
