Florida Attorney General Sues Systemax

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum on Friday sued Systemax Inc. and its subsidiaries, saying the companies failed to pay advertised rebates to consumers.

Consumers reported that the rebate programs were very difficult to navigate and often led to consumers giving up their rights to rebates.

The attorney general's lawsuit claims rebate requests received by the Port Washington, N.Y., company often went unprocessed, allowing the offers to expire. Many requests that did get processed were allegedly processed in a haphazard fashion, ultimately resulting in denied rebates. And consumers calling the company to inquire about their rebates reported they were routinely required to wait on hold, only to be misled about the status of their rebate and told nothing could be done for them.

McCollum is seeking a permanent injunction against the company and its subsidiaries that would prevent them from unreasonably denying or delaying proper rebate payments as well as reimbursement for customers.

A separate suit with similar allegations was filed in federal court in 2007 and dismissed in 2009.