Circuit City to Settle Complaint for $30,000

Circuit City Stores has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a civil complaint filed by the Ventura County district attorney alleging false advertising and unfair competition.

Without admitting wrongdoing, Circuit City agreed to pay the fine to the county in a judgment signed Friday by Superior Court Judge Melinda A. Johnson.

“Retailers have an obligation to ensure that their advertising is accurate and that mistakes are corrected promptly,” Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said in a prepared statement. “Circuit City has cooperated with the investigation and has taken steps to prevent problems in the future.”

The civil complaint was based on advertisements that the retailer ran last year in local newspapers offering free air time credit with the purchase of certain cellular telephones. The advertisements stated that a customer would be credited with free air time with the purchase of a telephone, resulting in a lower cost, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Schwartz said.

The advertisements gave the address of the Circuit City store on Mills Road in Ventura, Schwartz said. But the free air time credit was not available at the store and so the cost of the telephones was higher than the advertised amount, he said.

Circuit City has already paid $2,215 in restitution to 14 customers who purchased the telephones but did not receive the air time credit.