Surprise, Surprise - It seems that the only industry where Truth in Advertising is enforced is the Brokerage business.

This has been going on for years. And not just at BBB.
Thread count is the number of threads in a specified area. Simple physics says there is finite number of real threads which can possibly be woven into that given area.
The actual maximum total is dependent, in part, on the fiber. For example, silk is usually finer than cotton, so conceivably, a manufacturer can weave more silk into the same area than cotton. And then you get into the various grades, types, etc, of cotton, silk, etc.
The point being: there is a physical maximum # thread count.
If if sounds too good to be true (i.e. 2000 thread count), then it probably is.

Was a lawsuit really necessary for scratchy sheets? I think a media release would have been sufficient.

Bed Bath and Beyond has to be my least favourite home goods store.....I'm not surprised to hear this....they have some good items for the bath...but for beds and beyond, they are way overpriced for what seems like cheap bedding, knives that will need frequent sharpening, and gadgets that will break....or just become junk

Yay for April.....smart girl....a lawsuit is a bit much but this is a huge step for thread count snobs across America!!

I hope Target is not doing the same!!

Well, horrors--"mere 408"-count sheets. How can one be expected to survive?

Jazzberry, people bought sheets at inflated prices due to a knowing misrepresentation by BB&B. A lawsuit allows the court to decide what fair recompense for that misrepresentation should be. Otherwise, you're leaving it to BB&B to: (a) voluntarily admit to the misrepresentation; and (b) decide for themselves what is fair. This isn't a nuisance suit. BB&B broke the law. I'd rather leave it to the courts to decide the issue instead of the already untrustworthy seller.

There was an article in the times a couple of months ago about this. They interviewed someone who has been in the home product industry for years and he warned against the this. A Consumers best defense is knowledge.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/garden/08shop.html?scp=2&sq=thread%20count%20linens&st=cse

yes, BB&B bad. They should be advertised as 400 thread count.

Thatgrrl, if she settled with BB&B, nothing was really decided by the court. If she was trying to make them admit that they were breaking the law...she didn't get there. She took the money and ran.

but part of her settlement made them refund money to the people they conned going back to 2000. That right there needs to be applauded. I agree with Thatgrrl (no relation) that the suit even if settled out of court was significant and worth the time.

bepsf: honest brokerage? hehehehe you got me, almost shot coffee out my nose from laughing >; )

Actually, that's not the way class action lawsuits work jazzberry. Settlements have to be approved by a judge (in part, to avoid making the name-plaintiff rich while screwing the rest of the class). From the article about this particular suit:

"The lawsuit, which is being adjudicated in New Jersey district court, was filed as a class-action case whose members, Kallas estimates, could number in the tens of thousands. Bed Bath & Beyond denies any wrongdoing, but last month the parties reached a provisional settlement. If approved by the judge, it will provide for the plaintiffs—“all purchasers between August 1, 2000 and November 9, 2007 of multi-ply sheet sets, pillowcases, down comforters, bedskirts, shams, duvets, and down pillows from Bed Bath & Beyond that were labeled as ‘plied,’ ‘two-ply,’ or ‘2-ply’ ”—a series of refunds and discount certificates. "

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2008/01/28/080128ta_talk_collins

Litigious much?

JAZZBERRY - How can you even think like that? This is America land of greed! Sheesh, get with the times JazzBerry.

Hey, if it takes a lawsuit to make them correct misleading promotions, which leads consumers to erroneous decisions, I say go for it.

I got some high thread count sheets (not, sadly, at BB&B) and was surprised at how stiff and "cardboardy" they are and how difficult to get wrinkles out of. Lower threadcount (but properly labeled) ones I had in the past were much more luxurious and soft and wrinkle-free. You should get what you are told you are getting. I certainly wouldn't have chosen these at the price if I'd known what I was REALLY getting. I owned them too long after buying before using them to return them... I'm hoping they will wear softer in time...

I probably would've avoided the lawsuit and negotiated for a super gift certificate.

What everyone really should know when purchasing linens is that whatever sheets you're purchasing at any of these low-end stores like BBB, Linens & Things are in fact "LOW-END"!!

Even if they say 1000 threadcount, threadcount is in fact only one area to measure the quality of a sheet by. You need to consider 3 things: where the fabric is grown, how and where the cotton is woven and then where it is fabricated. Egypt grows the best cotton in the world (The closer to the Nile the better). Italians have been weaving fabrics for thousands of years and they really are the best at it and they have the best techniques worldwide (You can't beat practice) and finally where it is fabricated determines how it will be finished and the quality of the final details and sewing.

Once you're in this quality of sheeting you can start off with a 220 Threadcount sheet or even 400 TC which is like butter and anything above that is extremely luxurious and not neccesary for eveyone.
Believe me, once you've experienced 100% Egyptian Cotton woven in Italy you'll never go back!! And you'll be thanking me, cause you won't be sleeping on sandpaper anymore. You'll feel like you're sleeping at a luxurious boutique hotel everynight.

And one more thing, yes these will be more expensive than what you've been purchasing at these other stores, but these can last you for 10-30 years if you take care of them.

PS. Didn't mean to sound obnoxious, just thought you should know what you're missing out on. I work for a high-end linen store and it always amazes me how little people know about linens and how companies give out so much deceiving info. Hope this helps.
Check out:
http://www.aulitfinelinens.com/threadcount.php

A simple return would have sufficed as well. BBB takes back almost anything.

I have an egyptian cotton, woven-in-Italy duvet cover that certainly wasn't stitched together in either of those countries, because it fell apart on first washing, and so did its replacement... only hand-sewing it fixed it. Definitely pay attention to the construction details. You probably won't be able to do this unless a store has a floor model of an item, or you're willing to return it after you get it out of the packaging.

Bastards! How could they?
But seriously, I had no idea about this threadcount fraud! It explains so much.

http://www.margincomments.blogspot.com

Absolutely, April did the right thing. A lawsuit for Itchy sheets? No, lawsuit for fraud. A press release? how do you get them to do it if there hasn't been a court decision? A super gift certificate? That helps April and no one else.In this country, a law suit is how one makes a company do the right thing. Notice that she didn't get much. They probably would have paid a lot more for April to keep quiet. Kudos to April for doing what was best for the greater good. I have been in K-Mart and some of the Martha Stewart sheets say they have 400 thread count. Doesn't seem possible with those prices.

I am experimenting with Eqyptian cotton-Pima, 460 thread count from Johnlewis.com and it is ticking the boxes so far. I can recommend Peter Reed, which I have used at the LuxPod for 11 months. I have 220 thread count and they wash beautifully and feel crisp. I have spent countless hours researching. The labelling in general in the stores can be very misleading. If it reads soft I put it back on the shelf immediately. Also trying to source superior organic 100%, made in India under Fair Trade and so disappointing I can't use them. Already sent it back once!

As some have mentioned, thread count is only one aspect of what makes a luxurious soft sheet or duvet cover; I have always thought it misleading to get hung up on a number. The quality of the cotton, weaving and finishing are as important.

Personally, I have never been able to tear myself away from finely woven damask duvet and pillow covers from the Czech Republic. I grew up with that damask, and found its cool silkiness difficult to replace. It gets even better over time (the only problem I have is finding a service in North America which starches and presses them like they do back in Prague).

In pursuit of the perfect sleep...

Those who object to a lawsuit over threadcount miss the point entirely. This is not about sheets, it's about corporate theft. As the economy gets tougher, more and more companies are turning to outright theft from the customer in order to make ends meet. Maybe it will be your gas station when they shave 1/10th of a gallon off of every gallon you purchase. Maybe it will be you credit card company that holds your payment for "processing" an extra 3 days in order to obtain a late fee and charge a higher interest rate. Maybe it will be your grocery store that advertises a super low price to entice you to purchase, but scans a much higher price hoping you won't double check. The list of opportunities to defraud the consumer are endless, and the only thing that will stop it is a) rigorously enforced regulation or b) an embarrassing lawsuit revealing that the company steals. Simply returning the sheets would have been fantastic for Bed, Bath, and Beyond, because none of us would have been the wiser about getting defrauded. They would have continued to sell their bogus sheets and continued to pickpocket the difference from the customer. Now at least they need to clean up the mess.

Good for April. She stood up for all of us.

Using multiply yarns in order to inflate the thread count is nothing new and is not specific to Bed Bath & Beyond. I read years ago that any cotton sheet that lists a threadcount higher than 500 is using multiply yarns.

There are lots of good yarns out there.