A disgruntled customer has filed a class-action lawsuit against Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana and digital assets platform UNXD after alleged delays in delivering nonfungible token (NFT) products caused the digital assets to lose 97% of their value. 

According to a report from Bloomberg, a customer identified as Luke Brown paid $6,000 for “DGFamily NFTs,” a Dolce & Gabbana product combining digital and physical assets as privileges and experiences within the brand’s greater ecosystem.

Class action

The NFTs were allegedly delivered over a week late, during which their value plummeted by $5,800. A set of accompanying “outfits” for the NFTs, purportedly meant for display in the metaverse, was further delayed by 11 days after the initial delivery. 

Brown has filed a class-action suit on behalf of all customers who purchased the NFTs, alleging that Dolce & Gabbana and UNXD failed to deliver on promises made at the point of transaction.

According to the report, the delivery delays occurred after Dolce & Gabbana failed to obtain approval for the accompanying assets from the UNXD NFT platform. It’s unclear at this time how many customers may have been affected by the alleged delays. 

An NFT industry concern

This case highlights the ongoing struggle for companies, brands and marketers as the realm of physical goods, products, and assets transitions to hybridized digitization. 

A physical product, such as a fashionable clothing item, functions in a dynamically different market than that of a digital asset, often with little correlation to one another.

Further complicating the matter, the Dolce & Gabbana NFTs were created on the Ethereum blockchain for the “D&G Metaverse.”

The Ethereum blockchain powers the world’s second most popular cryptocurrency, and as Cointelegraph reported, Dolce & Gabbana NFTs have sold for millions of dollars in the past. These facts could impact the class-action lawsuit if it moves forward.

Related: Iconic brands including Nike, Gucci have made $260M off NFT sales

Cointelegraph reached out to Dolce & Gabbana for comment but did not receive an immediate response.