Suit Says Sears Defrauded Tire Customers

Sears Auto • Tires • Wheels • Batteries • Brakes • Oil Change • Safety Inspection • Everything Else ---- • Sears Settles NJ Fraud Case • Suit Charges Fraud • Insider's Report • Other Sears Complaints

CHICAGO, June 17, 1999 -- A class-action lawsuit filed in Illinois claims Sears defrauded customers of $400 million by charging for wheel balancing it did not perform. The suit charges that up to 30 million customers were defrauded between 1989 and 1994. A Sears spokesman called the charges "false and unsubstantiated."

Sears settled a similar case in Florida recently by admitting no wrongdoing while paying $580,000 to the state and offering free wheel balancing to customers.

The suit also claims that Sears destroyed the machines used in the alleged fraud and paid $30 million in "hush money" to employees and vendors.

Sears' auto repair operation has been plagued with fraud charges for years. In 1992, the company agreed to distribute over $46 million to customers to settle allegations that it systematically over-charged customers and performed unnecessary repairs.

Recently, the company settled another suit in Florida, this one claiming that Sears sold used car batteries as new ones. It agreed to pay $985,000 and offered free replacement warranties to customers covered by the action.

Sears is the nation's second-largest retailer.

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