Business Insider
Target is offering customers millions of dollars in refunds after discovering that it sold fake Egyptian cotton sheets.
The sheets were manufactured by Welspun India, a global textile company that’s a key supplier to many US retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, JCPenney, and Macy’s, Bloomberg reports.
Welspun’s shares have fallen 20% after the news.
The sheets were sold at Target for as much as $175 per set under the labels Fieldcrest and Crowning Touch.
Target recently pulled them from store shelves and its website, and now the company is offering a full refund to anyone who bought the sheets between August 2014 and July 2016.
“Over the years, consumers have come to believe higher price tags are justified for bedding with certain qualities, such as Egyptian cotton or even higher thread counts. Because consumers cannot verify these qualities with the naked eye, they must be able to rely upon the qualities that manufacturers or retailers advertise on a product’s label or in catalogs or on Websites. Without accurate advertising and labeling, consumers aren’t going to know what they are actually purchasing — be able to compare products within the same brand and across brands — or know if the price being asked is fair.
“I am glad to see a major retailer, such as Target, acknowledge its bedding was mislabeled and step forward to refund the money its consumers paid for the Egyptian cotton bedding they did not receive.”
~ Kathryn Honecker
