The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing allegations that the leading U.S. maker of artificial sports fields, FieldTurf, sold a defective line of turf for years after knowing it was falling apart and would fall short of lofty advertising and marketing claims, NJ Advance Media has learned.
The disclosure came in response to a letter from U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez (both D-N.J.) requesting the commission open a nationwide investigation into the company to determine if it had defrauded taxpayers in towns and school districts across the country.
“Commission investigations are nonpublic, but I can assure you that truthful advertising remains a top commission priority,” Chairwoman Edith Ramirez wrote in the letter, dated Jan. 24 and obtained by NJ Advance Media. “I can also assure you that the commission will carefully consider the information you provided to determine whether enforcement or other action is appropriate.”
FieldTurf officials have denied wrongdoing and said a full airing of the facts will show that its customers have been well served. The Canadian-based company — a division of Tarkett, a publicly traded French flooring maker — has faced more than a dozen lawsuits across the U.S. filed by customers complaining about its response to problems with its turf.
In her letter, Ramirez said the commission had a history of targeting manufacturers that exaggerated the performance capabilities of their products.
“The commission shares your concern that advertising should be truthful and not misleading, especially where the advertised products are expensive, infrequently purchased, and consumers cannot judge for themselves whether the products perform as advertised until well after purchase,” the letter said.
In their request for an investigation, Booker — who sits on the Senate subcommittee overseeing consumer affairs — and Menendez said it was “imperative that the commission thoroughly investigate FieldTurf’s sales and marketing” of the turf, known primary as Duraspine.
Ramirez, a Democrat, has said she will resign this month, and it’s unclear how President Donald Trump’s new administration might affect the direction of the commission.
A six-month NJ Advance Media investigation published in December found FieldTurf sold high-end turf to towns and schools in the U.S. for years without disclosing that its executives knew the turf was falling apart and would not live up to marketing claims.
Despite candid internal discussions about those problems and their overblown sales pitches, records show, FieldTurf executives kept taxpayers in the dark. The company went on to earn millions of dollars on what became the country’s hottest-selling brand of artificial turf.
Many fields, sold for $300,000 to $500,000, have since fallen apart long before they should.
Four class-action lawsuits have been filed against the company since the NJ Advance Media report, and authorities in New York and New Jersey are said to be examining the company’s business practices, specifically whether or not it violated anti-consumer fraud laws.
http://fieldturf.nj.com/
Christopher Baxter may be reached at cbaxter@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cbaxter1. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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