AG Brown sues Albertsons, Safeway, and Haggen for deceptive ‘buy one get one free’ deals

The corporate owner of Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen grocery stores has overcharged Washington consumers in more than 3 million transactions over a five-year period through deceptive "buy one get one free" deals, Attorney General Nick Brown argues in a new consumer protection lawsuit filed today.

Boise-based Albertsons Companies, one of the largest grocery store chains in the country, owns and operates all Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen grocery stores in Washington, totaling 225 retail grocery stores across the state.

The grocery stores entice consumers through "buy one get one free" (BOGO) promotions on staples such as bread, cereal, fresh produce, and olive oil. According to the complaint filed in King County Superior Court, the stores artificially hike prices of products slated for the supposed specials in the weeks or months leading up to a "buy one get one free" promotion, overcharging customers who purchase in the interim. Then they lower the prices within about 30 days after the deal is over. The net result is that consumers think they're getting a second item free, but in practice, they're just paying an inflated price for the first item.

For example, a Gig Harbor Albertsons hiked the price of a bottle of olive oil to $10.99 for the BOGO promotion from $6.99 a week earlier, an increase of 57%. After the "buy one get one free" deal ended, the store dropped the price back down to $6.99.

"We're not going to stand for people getting fleeced by these deceptive practices," Brown said. "That's why we've filed this case. We want to make sure we're protecting people's pocketbooks, and we all know that affordability is a major issue these days. We've got to push back when companies are misleading their customers."

From October 2019 to May 2024, the defendants overcharged Washington consumers on more than 3 million transactions, the lawsuit says. The stores brought in as much as $19.7 million by attracting consumers into their stores with these deceptive deals.

This is not the first time the defendants have been accused of unfair and deceptive BOGO promotions in stores in the Pacific Northwest. Albertsons paid $107 million to settle a 2016 class action lawsuit related to misleading "buy one get one free" deals in Oregon stores. The companies also settled a proposed class action case filed in 2023 in federal court related to deceptive BOGO promotions in Washington stores.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) alleges the defendants violated the state's Consumer Protection Act by:

• Engaging in unfair and deceptive acts or practices by artificially increasing the pre-BOGO price of items and then lowering the price shortly after the promotion ends
• Misrepresenting prices and thereby engaging in an unfair method of competition

Brown is asking the court to rule that the stores' conduct violates state law, stop the defendants' use of unfair and deceptive BOGO promotions, provide restitution to Washington consumers, and pay civil penalties for each violation of state law as well as pre-judgment interest.

Assistant Attorneys General Bob Hyde and Shana Emile and Paralegals Judy Lim and Michelle Paules are handling the case for Washington.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

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