Lingerie Discounts Were 'Deceptive,' Company Must Refund Misled MD Customers

MARYLAND — A lingerie company agreed to pay Maryland $250,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging deceptive business practices.

The suit accused AdoreMe, Inc. of misleading consumers into subscribing to a paid loyalty program with recurring automatic payments that could be used to buy future products.

Attorney General Anthony Brown alleged that AdoreMe "deceptively marketed discounted lingerie to its customers without adequately revealing that if they accepted the discount, they would be enrolled in a VIP membership program."

In addition to paying the state, AdoreMe must also refund inactive customers who had money wrapped up in the loyalty program and offer some with active memberships a chance to cash out.

"Maryland consumers deserve transparency in their online purchases and should not face hidden monthly fees," Brown said in a press release. "This settlement secures refunds for affected Marylanders and sets clear guidelines to prevent similar deceptive practices."

AdoreMe's website offered consumers the ability to receive a discount on the purchase of their lingerie items, but only if consumers enrolled in its VIP program, which required monthly payments of $39.95 that could be used to make future purchases. Under the terms of Thursday's settlement, AdoreMe can continue enrolling consumers in its membership program, but it must obtain their affirmative consent and clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms of the program before billing consumers.

AdoreMe must also provide enhanced notice each month when it bills consumers and provide them with easier access to their membership terms. For consumers who wish to cancel, AdoreMe is prohibited from creating obstacles to cancellation and must provide a simple means for consumers to cancel their memberships, including an easily accessible online mechanism on its website. It must also promptly act on consumers' requests to cancel and pay timely refunds. AdoreMe will also automatically stop billing consumers if their accounts accumulate more than 12 months of credit.

All Maryland consumers who were enrolled in AdoreMe's VIP memberships, but whose memberships are inactive, will receive a refund equal to the balance of all of the funds they paid the company that they never used to make purchases. Brown anticipates these refund checks will be mailed to consumers within the next two to three months. Maryland consumers who still have active VIP memberships with AdoreMe will be contacted by the company within the next one to two months and offered the opportunity to obtain a refund of as much as one year of payments made to the company. Consumers with questions about this restitution program may call the attorney general's Consumer Protection Division at 410-528-8662.