A new class action lawsuit out of Florida claims Firestone Complete Auto Care has automatically added its road hazard warranty and other charges to customers’ tire replacement invoices without disclosing that they are optional services.
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The 10-page proposed class action alleges that auto services company Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC—which does business as Firestone Complete Auto Care—has charged customers for “Road Hazard Protection” and other items without their express consent, and only disclosed that the services were optional when consumers explicitly asked about them.
The suit was filed by a Florida consumer who says she visited a local Firestone Complete Auto Care location in March 2022 and was quoted $299.96 for four replacement tires. After the service was complete, the company provided the woman an invoice that listed a charge for “Road Hazard Protection,” which amounted to approximately 14 percent of the cost of each tire, the case relays.
In addition, the plaintiff’s invoice included a $3.14 fee for “TPMS Valve Service Kit Labor” and a $2.53 “Scrap Tire Recycling Fee,” the complaint shares.
However, Firestone Complete Auto Care did not post any signs informing the plaintiff that these services were optional, the filing contends. The location’s employees likewise failed to disclose the nature of the fees and, instead, “simply tendered the Final Invoice without any explanation as to what the various charges were for,” the lawsuit claims.
According to the suit, the company’s standard practice is to “add Road Hazard Protection and the other items to every customer’s invoice and only explain such if the customer inquires at the time of purchase.”
The defendant was previously sued by the state of Washington over similar allegations, the case says. Per the complaint, the Washington lawsuit culminated in a settlement announced in December 2005, whereby the company was fined thousands in civil penalties for its “deceptive practice of including ‘optional’ services on its estimates.”
The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Florida who purchased one or more tires from Firestone Complete Auto Care who was charged for “Road Hazard Protection” and the other items listed on this page.
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