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AG files complaint against NuWave

CHARLESTON – A cookware company that markets mostly through television advertising was sued by the attorney general of West Virginia for alleged violations of consumer laws.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Thursday said the state filed a complaint for injunction, consumer restitution and other relief against Illinois-based NuWave, LLC., formerly known as Hearthware LLC, in Kanawha County Circuit Court claiming NuWave’s business practices violate the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, the Telemarketing Act and the Prizes and Gifts Act.

The Consumer Protection Division has received multiple reports from consumers claiming NuWave engaged in unscrupulous tactics in the marketing and sale of its Precision Induction Cooktop and other products, particularly in reference to NuWave’s buy-one-get-one-free promotional offer, Morrisey said.

“From these accounts, it appears that the free product was not free as represented,” Morrisey said. “NuWave allegedly added shipping and processing charges to the second product that were not clearly and conspicuously disclosed and that greatly exceeded the actual cost of shipping to NuWave.”

The suit filed Thursday alleges consumers who called to purchase NuWave’s Precision Induction Cooktop were subjected to a high-pressure sales pitch to purchase other products and services of questionable value on behalf of other undisclosed sellers to the consumer, Morrissey said. The practice subjected unwary consumers to monthly charges on their credit card bills for products or services they did not know they had purchased, he said.

According to the complaint, all of the telemarketing sales were conducted by outside vendors and neither NuWave nor its vendors were registered and bonded as telemarketers with the state tax department in West Virginia

The complaint asks for civil penalties of $5,000 per violation and all costs related to the investigation and litigation of this matter.

It also asked the court to require NuWave to refund all payments collected from West Virginia consumers who purchased both NuWave and non-NuWave products from NuWave’s telemarketers as part of the NuWave’s buy-one-get-one-free promotional offer. The suit also asks that NuWave should provide restitution for each affected consumer up to 10 times the amount of the excess charges.

Consumers who believe they have been negatively impacted by NuWave should call the Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-368-8808 or the Eastern Panhandle Consumer Protection Office in Martinsburg at 304-267-0239. Consumers can also file an online complaint at wvago.gov.

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