Safeway, Albertsons agree to $107M settlement in meat lawsuit

You have heard of the expression “there is a lot of meat left on that bone.” For Safeway and Albertsons stores in Oregon the meat had a lot of money left on those pounds.

Safeway and Albertsons recently agreed to pay a $107 million settlement for a buy-one, get-one-free promotion which allegedly tricked consumers into thinking they were getting a deal.

The lawsuit was submitted by a pair of customers and said, “They are paying more per pound than regularly priced meat, and they are buying more meat in order to obtain the illusory ‘free’ product.”

The lawsuit, which was filed back in 2016, went on to list an example: boneless pork chops were typically $4.49 a pound, but under the buy-one, get-one-free promotion they were listed at $12.99 a pound.  

Safeway and Albertsons have not admitted to any wrongdoing, but instead agreed on the settlement that will only be applied to those customers who bought meat at Oregon Albertsons and Safeway stores using the Safeway Club Card at Safeway stores and coupons at Albertsons grocery stores. Class members can receive an equal share, estimated to be about $200, of the net settlement fund.

The final approval hearing for the Safeway settlement is schedule for July 10.