Snuggie, Perfect Bacon Bowl Owners To Get $7.2 Million In Settlement

People who have purchased the as-seen-on-TV products Snuggie, Perfect Bacon Bowl, Perfect Brownie Pan, and other items may be entitled to a refund. The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a $7.2 million settlement with the Allstar Marketing Group over the company's misleading TV commercials offering "buy one, get one free" deals that failed to reveal additional costs.

The FTC alleged in 2015 that Allstar led customers to believe that by paying a one-time fee, they would receive two of the same product at no additional cost. The New York Daily News reports that an undisclosed $7.95 processing and handling fee was added to each item, which raised the price.

The FTC plans to mail out 218,254 refund checks to customers who purchased Snuggies, Perfect Bacon Bowls, Magic Mesh Doors, Perfect Brownie Pans, Cat's Meows, and Roto Punch products. "Because the ordering process was confusing, some customers also were charged for more products than they wanted," the FTC wrote in a press release. "Consumers who bought products marketed by Allstar Marketing Group, LLC will receive checks averaging $33.14."

"This agreement returns money to thousands of consumers in New York and across the nation who believed they were buying items at the price advertised on television, but ended up with extra merchandise and hidden fees they didn't bargain for," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement on March 5. (Allstar Marketing is based in New York, and the state's attorney general provided assistance to the FTC in the case.)

Even though customers will get their money back on some of the kitschy items they ordered from TV, that still doesn't answer the question: Why are Americans still buying kitchen gadgets that we probably don't need?