Simon Property Group Hit With Another Lawsuit
Another lawsuit has been filed against Simon Property Group, Inc. over its gift cards.
This time, former Gov. Roy Barnes filed a lawsuit on Dec. 8 representing two Georgia shoppers claiming fees and expiration dates on Simon’s Visa Giftcard are illegal, according to news reports. The lawsuit seeks class-action status.
Plaintiff Andrea Nay-Richardson claimed she bought hundreds of dollars worth of Simon Giftcards at Lenox Square in May 2001 only to find they had expired when she went to use one in 2002. The second plaintiff, Betty Benson, was given a $75 gift card from her employer and that too expired before she could use it, the reports said.
Billie Scott, a spokesperson at Simon Property Group said, “The lawsuit filed in Georgia was brought by a private class action trial lawyer on behalf of two plaintiffs. One plaintiff’s allegations pertain to an expired gift certificate from Simon’s old paper gift certificate program that was replaced several years ago by our Simon Visa Giftcard program.”
He added that, “The Simon Visa Giftcard complies with all applicable state and federal laws, including those of the state of Georgia. We believe the complaint lacks legal as well as factual merit.”
Simon Property Group operates a number of malls in the Atlanta area including Lenox Square in Atlanta.
Last month, three New England states sued Simon Property Group, North America’s largest shopping mall owner, alleging that it violated consumer protection laws by including fees and expiration dates on its gift cards.
In a preemptive strike, Simon Property Group had sued Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire on Nov. 12 in anticipation of the Nov. 15 state suits. Simon said that its Simon Visa Giftcard is not a retailer gift card, but a co-branded Visa card issued by Bank of America and therefore is covered by federal banking laws and not subject to state laws.
“As a co-branded bank card, Simon is confident that the card is regulated by federal and not state law, which is at the heart of the lawsuits,” Simon spokesperson Michal Regunberg said at the time.
Attorneys General from the three states filed suit in federal court claiming that Simon Malls illegally imposed a one-year expiration date on the gift cards and illegally charged consumers a number of fees. (PROMO P&I, Nov. 24)
Simon Property said that its card carries fees to offset costs required to maintain the account, to ensure consumers are protected against fraud and unauthorized use and to process each transaction. It said that it “makes every effort” to educate customers and to ensure that they understand the terms of the gift card before they purchase one.
“These ‘gift cards’ are riddled with additional charges that Massachusetts consumers should not have to pay,” AG Tom Reilly had said in a statement. “Despite the name, these gift cards are not what they seem.”
Simon Property Group, based in Indianapolis, IN, offers its gift cards in whole dollar amounts ranging from $20 to $500. The cards were introduced nationwide in 2003 after testing in five Simon Malls since August 2001.
