A federal court has ordered Harris Jewelry to reopen its claims process and to again notify consumers that they may submit their claims for refunds from the jewelry company.
Most of the consumers affected are active-duty servicemembers.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York found that Harris Jewelry violated its prior settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and a multistate group led by the New York Attorney General’s Office by prematurely shutting down the claims portal.
The new claims process is open for 33 days, starting on, November 18, 2024 and ending Saturday, December 21, 2024.
In July 2022, the FTC and 18 states stopped the jewelry retailer from allegedly cheating military families with illegal financing and sales practices.
The FTC said that the company “claimed that financing jewelry purchases through Harris would raise servicemembers’ credit scores, misrepresented that its protection plans were not optional or were required, and added the plans to purchases without consumers’ consent.” The company also allegedly violated financial consumer protection laws, including the Military Lending Act.
Under a stipulated order with the FTC and the group of states, Harris was ordered to stop collecting millions of dollars in debt, provide refunds for purchased protection plans, issue refunds for overpayments and assist with the deletion of any negative credit entries in consumers’ credit reporting files.
Harris also was required to complete its shutdown of operations and to dissolve pursuant to applicable state laws, once it meets the obligations of the stipulated order.
However, the company shut down its claims website before all consumers could file claims, according to the FTC.
The FTC is encouraging consumers who purchased items from Harris Jewelry and paid for a Lifetime Jewelry and Watch Protection Plan and have yet to file a claim or previously filed a claim but not yet heard back from Harris Jewelry, to request a refund via the company’s website as soon as possible.