Williams-Sonoma must pay almost $3.2 million for violating FTC's 'Made in USA' order
Williams-Sonoma must pay almost $3.2 million for violating FTC's 'Made in USA' order
Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million penalty for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order.
Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order.
Williams-Sonoma was charged with advertising multiple products as being “Made in USA” when they were in fact manufactured in other countries, including China. That violated a 2020 commission order requiring the San Francisco-based company to be truthful about whether its products were in fact made in the U.S.
The FTC said Friday that Williams-Sonoma has agreed to a settlement, which includes a $3.175 million civil penalty. That marks the largest-ever civil penalty seen in a “Made in USA” case, the commission said.
“Williams-Sonoma’s deception misled consumers and harmed honest American businesses,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “Today’s record-setting civil penalty makes clear that firms committing Made-in-USA fraud will not get a free pass.”
In addition to paying the penalty, the seller of cookware and home furnishings will be required to submit annual compliance reports, the FTC said. The settlement also imposes and reinforces a number of requirements about manufacturing claims the company can make.
In 2023, the global net revenue of Williams-Sonoma amounted to over 7.7 billion U.S. dollars
https://www.statista.com/statistics/246591/net-revenue-of-williams-sonoma-worldwide/
Once again, a corporation breaking the law can just write it off as the cost of doing business.
All I’m hearing is that made in USA is a meaningless label because it’s cost-effective to simply apply it and pay the fine if they ever get to you. Corporations mis using the label can breathe a sigh of relief. No real punishment inbound.
Hey, that's not telling the whole story!
Made in the USA can mean unpaid prison slave labor too.
The bottom line is operating income, not revenue. And WSM had an operating income of ~$1.5 billion last year.
The FTC found seven products were falsely advertised, starting with a mattress cover. But Pottery Barn sells over 10,000 products, in fact there are over 500 products in their bedding section alone. And Pottery Barn is just one part of WSM.
It's near certain that a $3 million fine wiped out whatever profit these seven products made for WSM, and then cut into profits made by other products. So breaking the law was not a profitable strategy for WSM.
I wish people would be open to changing their opinions when new information is introduced, instead they're just downvoting you because they don't want justice they want to be mad.
The important part, to me, is that they must now submit annual compliance reports.
But the fine for lying in the reports is the same as this fine: much, much lower than the profits. The fines are inconsequential, so fake reports are also inconsequential.
The FTC has no teeth here. No one will be jailed. The fines will never be more than a fraction of a penny on the dollar. So, the required reports and even the fines mean nothing at all. Nothing. Even the bad press is likely to help them sell more goods.
Laws without teeth are not laws.
Fines are not tax deductible. So no it’s not a cost of doing business.
That's like, what... The cost of three "Made in USA" Williams Sonoma credenzas?
The 7 products found to be made outside of the USA probably didn't make enough net profit to cover these fines much less the mandatory annual compliance reports.
Keep in mind this is out of brands including "Goldtouch, Rejuvenation, Pottery Barn Teen and Pottery Barn Kids brands" which is a lot of products, so if anything this report shows they're honest 97% of the time. To me, that's a lot more surprising.
The FTC said Friday that Williams-Sonoma has agreed to a settlement, which includes a $3.175 million civil penalty. That marks the largest-ever civil penalty seen in a “Made in USA” case, the commission said.
THATS NOT A BRAG YOU WORTHLESS FUCKS
It's not even the company's first fine for similar misbehavior.
If the fine isn't big enough to act as a deterrent, it's almost like granting permission to do it again.
If you're rich enough, a fine is never a deterrent.
It is if you consider it was exactly 7 products out of everything in the brands "Goldtouch, Rejuvenation, Pottery Barn Teen and Pottery Barn Kids brands". They're almost certainly losing a lot more than they profited.
They broke the rules, they got fined, they broke the rules again, the fines went up and now they have to submit annual compliance reports. That seems good to me, if they do it again we fine them again and more every time.
It's a warning. The more that know lying will cost you millions the fewer will risk it. The more consumers who know of cheaters the more it will impact the business. Headline grabbing numbers are GOOD.
It's not even the company's first fine for similar misbehavior.
If the fine isn't big enough to act as a deterrent, it's almost like granting permission to do it again.
Oh wow a whole 3.2 million.
Now if we could only get things like I dunno leaking million peoples of private information to the dark web which adds up to billions in lost revenue and scams for millions of Americans taken as seriously... Nah...
Poor them. A whole $3.2 millions? How will they ever recover from this?
Really depends on the value of the products sold. The find should be double or triple that to have any impact.
Personally I avoid buying anything made in China. Too much risk if it’s something I’ll touch all the time. Too much lead and chemicals in their products.
I've never bought anything specifically because it was made in the USA because US made does not equal good quality. When I used to work retail and people would ask me if something was American made it was because they assumed it was better quality and they were racist. I do find it ridiculous that a company can do this and still be allowed to operate. William Sonoma should be forced out of business for even having the audacity to do this as far as I'm concerned.
I’ve never bought anything specifically because it was made in the USA because US made does not equal good quality.
Not sure about the USA, but I consider it's more likely the ecological and social impact of the product is better if it was made in my country than in a cheap labor one.
That’s a blunder.
I'm happy to hear the FTC is doing some shit. Seems like they kept quiet for years, but lately they've been on fire