According to the allegations, Bright & Shiny called over 28,000 phone numbers of Arizonans that were on the federal Do Not Call list, on just one phone line in an eight-month span between September 2017 and April 2018. The complaint alleges that Bright & Shiny called 49,000 phone numbers on that line during that time, meaning that one out of every two calls the company made violated the Do Not Call laws. During the calls, investigators say company representatives told consumers they had been selected to receive a complimentary carpet cleaning or a free gift, but did not disclose that the true purpose of the calls was to gain access to consumers’ homes in order to make sales presentations for Kirby vacuum cleaners. Additionally, the complaint alleges that despite telling consumers the carpet cleaning would take approximately an hour, Bright & Shiny salespeople would often stay in consumers’ homes attempting to sell the vacuum cleaners for unreasonably long periods of time. Reportedly, some sales presentations lasted for three hours or longer. Investigators say the defendants used these deceptive practices and illegal telemarketing tactics to sell over $12 million in Kirby Vacuums from approximately January 2014 to the present.
The State’s lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, seeks consumer restitution, attorney’s fees, a fine of up to $1,000 for each call Bright & Shiny made to a consumer on the federal Do Not Call Registry, and a fine of up to $10,000 for each violation of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.
Assistant Attorney General Bryce Clark of the Consumer Protection and Advocacy Section is handling the case.
If you believe you have been the victim of consumer fraud, you can file a consumer complaint by contacting the Attorney General’s Office in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763, in Tucson at (520) 628-6648, or outside the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas at (800) 352-8431. Consumers can also file complaints online by visiting the Attorney General’s website.