In an ongoing legal battle between Google parent company Alphabet, Inc. and consumers over Google’s failure to redeem Google Play gift cards, the plaintiffs filed their opposition to Google’s motion to dismiss on Thursday in the Central District of California. Last month, Google claimed that the plaintiffs’ lawsuit should be dismissed “in its entirety for failure to state any viable claim.”
The plaintiffs countered Google’s claims that the initial complaint had no substance and attempted to prove that the defendants violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and Gift Card Law. The Gift Card Law mandates that “sold without an expiration date is valid until redeemed or replaced,” that “redemption must be ‘in cash for [the card’s] value,’” or that “the card is subject to replacement with a new gift certificate at no cost to the purchaser or holder.” The plaintiffs argued that Google violated “all three statutory requirements” of this law, since Google representatives were of “no help” and simply told them that their requests to reinstate their gift cards were “denied.”
Google also requested a motion to transfer the case from the Central District to the Northern District of California, which plaintiffs said would not be fair because “travel costs will be much harder to bear for individual Plaintiffs than it would be for Defendants.” Moreover, the plaintiffs bought their gift cards in the Central District and they believe that it makes it a more appropriate venue to continue the lawsuit, going so far as to say that Google “do[es] not offer up any compelling reason to disturb Plaintiffs’ choice of venue.”
The plaintiffs requested that the court deny Google’s motion to dismiss, and allow the plaintiffs to amend their complaint if necessary.
The plaintiffs are represented by McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP. They are seeking class action certification, restitution, an award for damages, and attorney’s fees and costs.
Google is represented by Cooley LLP.
