They’re mad as hell and not going take it anymore. That seems to be the case these days when shoppers have had enough of retailers’ broken promises. Over the next three weeks, we will examine three recently filed class action lawsuits again some big name chains. First up — Safeway.
| Safeway |
|---|
Everyone loves buy one, get one free (BOGO) offers when they are legitimate. But one Washington state consumer says Safeway is not playing fair because she alleges the supermarket chain raises the price on items that are offered as BOGO specials.
*MOUSE PRINT:
In her complaint, the consumer claims:
Contrary to the language of Defendants’ free product offers, the BOGO products are not actually free. Instead, Defendants increase the price of the first unit of the product to cover the cost of the second purportedly “free” unit of the product.
Throughout the class period Defendants routinely increased the regular retail price of items when offering them in BOGO sales. For example, during the class period, Safeway sold boneless, skinless chicken breasts to Club Card members for $2.99 per pound. Within the same month, Safeway sold seasoned boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $5.99 per pound in a Buy 1, Get 1 Free promotion. Thus, Club Card consumers overpaid by $3.00 per pound for any BOGO chicken purchase.
Other examples in the lawsuit don’t give clear-cut examples demonstrating that the one purchased item had doubled in price to make up the cost of the free item.
And worse for the consumer and her lawyer, they may not understand the variability of retail pricing. Stores sell goods at a variety of different prices. In the case of the chicken breasts above, for example, it is unlikely that $2.99 was the regular price of that item. It perhaps was on sale for $2.99 a pound one particular week. So to suggest that whenever Safeway runs a BOGO sale on chicken breasts it should have been $2.99 for the first package and the second free is just plain wrong.
Regular prices have to be bona fide. Generally speaking, products must be offered at full regular price for a substantial period of time and then they can be periodically discounted. In the case of buy one, get one free offers, under Federal Trade Commission rules, retailers cannot jack-up the price of the purchased item beyond its regular price.
So, if the court finds that Safeway only charges $5.99 a pound for chicken breasts when offered on a BOGO basis, then the consumer has a great case. But if it really charges $5.99 a pound “regularly” when not on sale, but occasionally has a sale for $2.99 a pound, the case may fail.
Of note, however, is a case that Safeway and Albertsons have recently agreed to settle for $107-million after similar allegations were made about buy one, get one free meat sales in Oregon. A similar suit complaining about Safeway’s BOGO practices was also filed in California in June.
Next week, we’ll examine a complaint filed against Best Buy for not honoring its price guarantee.
Good, so many retailers do this, including Kohls and other Supermarkets. On another note, I just did an after purchase Price Match at Best Buy on a Bluray movie and it was very easy, so hopefully they’ve changed
Excel Spreadsheet the meat prices if you can…..
Then we will know for sure what the price was each week for the boneless, skinless chicken breasts and how many times the boneless, skinless chicken breasts made it into the weekly ad.
Meat prices can be tricky as you want the cheapest price possible but what week is that going to be.
Richard… the complaint does not contain a history of the chicken prices week by week.
Well that would be a super simple way to help prove the complaint though.
How many times in March though April 2023 was the chicken breast for sale at a regular price and how many times was it sale.
On page three of the complaint only the Pork Loin Rib Chops had a BOGO price that was more than twice the regular price.
I think the plaintiff will be able to obtain the actual pricing history from Safeway through a discovery process if it is needed to prove the case.
almost all food supermarkets do it. also another scheme you must buy 3,4 or 5 of item to get sale price. So if you only want one of that item, don’t have space to store or, can’t afford, you lose
Paul… those are two different animals. The fake BOGO sale is a deceptive and illegal practice if true. The “must buy 5” deals are obnoxious, but not illegal.
Brookshires does the same thing. I see a lot of items that will be on their BOGO promotions that have jacked up prices. I just avoid getting caught up in this scam. Maybe they need to be sued too. It is about time consumers start fighting more against retailers.
I’ve noticed that there are some items that are almost always on sale, but every so often they will revert back to their “regular” higher price for a week or two. I’ve always assumed that this was to establish a base price so they can claim it’s on sale the rest of the time or do bogo sales at the higher price. The difference between the regular and sale prices however is usually not so great as to wipe out any savings from a bogo sale.
Seasoned chicken breasts are not the same item as non-seasoned breasts. Some people will pay more for a little convenience. I don’t see this as valid comparison.
Safeway is NOT the safe way to grocery shop! My local store always has BOGO and the prices for the 1st item is never the regular everyday price but raised so you THINK your 2nd item is FREE. Example: Best Food Mayonaise@$6.99 at a BOGO sale. After the sale, the price goes back to the everyday $3.99. You have to know your prices when shopping at Safeway. Again, it is not the safe way!
Publix did this same. Chicken breasts were BOGO. Price per pound 7.99. Uh no. I know that’s not a regular price. Bogus
This has been going on for about a hundred years.