Pop superstar Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty lingerie company will pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit by Santa Clara County and four other California local governments alleging the firm defrauded customers.
The governments accused Savage X Fenty of deceiving consumers by automatically enrolling them in a “VIP” program with automatic recurring credit card charges. The scheme allegedly broke California’s just-tightened automatic-renewal law, according to the suit filed in August in Santa Clara County Superior Court by Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and San Diego counties, and the city of Santa Monica.
When people bought products on Savage X Fenty’s website, they would automatically — and fraudulently — be enrolled in a recurring paid VIP membership, leading to credit card charges that would be repeated until the customer cancelled the membership, the suit alleged.
“Consumers have a right to know up front what they are paying for and how often,” Santa Clara County deputy District Attorney Jennifer Deng said Monday in announcing the settlement. “Businesses have a duty to be transparent about their automatic renewal charges.”
Savage X Fenty’s actions “were likely to deceive members of the public and were performed with that intent,” the suit claimed. The company failed to conspicuously disclose the terms of its auto-renewal program, did not obtain buyers’ “affirmative and express informed consent” and did not provide a simple online mechanism for stopping the charges, the suit alleged.
Savage X Fenty also told customers that store credit accrued via VIP membership could be used at any time, when it could only be used for purchases costing more than the value of the credit, the suit claimed.
Under the deal with the governments, Savage X Fenty will pay a $1 million fine, plus $50,000 to pay back investigative costs, and $150,000 in restitution to previous or current VIP members in California. Eligible customers are to receive a notice from a third-party claim administrator.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A quote from Rihanna on her lingerie company’s website includes the comment, “Savage X means making your own rules.”
Savage X Fenty cooperated with the governments’ probe and has changed its website, automatic renewal notices, and store credit and advertising practices, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office said in a news release.
Under state law, online companies that market to consumers must disclose all automatic-renewal fees clearly and prominently. A new state law requiring automatic subscriptions to be easily cancellable, and for online-commerce companies to clearly communicate when free trial periods are going to end, went into effect in July.
Barbadian singer Rihanna launched her lingerie company in 2018, with a broad range of sizes that promoted a “body-positive message,” according to Vogue magazine. “You can be cute and playful one week and a black widow next week,” Rihanna told Vogue. “You can take risks with lingerie.”
