A seller of products that the FTC said were deceptively marketed to stop and prevent bed bug infestations has learned the hard way that defying an FTC consent order can have major consequences.
The manufacturer of BEST Yet! bed bug repellents first ran afoul of the FTC in 2012 for allegedly making a variety of false or unsubstantiated product claims, such as that its products were invented for the U.S. Army and selected as #1 bio-based pesticide by the USDA. As a result, the company agreed to a consent order that prohibited the company from continuing to make misleading product representations.
For defying this consent order, the FTC is now requiring the company to pay $224,356 for consumer refunds and banning the company from marketing or selling products claiming to kill bed bugs in the future.
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The seller of Cedarcide Original, a line of cedar oil-based products deceptively marketed as effective at stopping and preventing bed bug infestations, has settled FTC charges that it violated a 2013 order barring it from making scientifically unsupported product claims. Under the modified court order, the seller admits it violated the 2013 order, is banned from selling bed bug eradication products, and will pay $224,356 for consumer refunds.
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