Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region. No non-grocery posts.
Post Reply
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by storewanderer »

Funny, Albertsons has been doing this for a while (I think it was a Supervalu idea) and nobody seemed to complain. Now that they are doing it in Safeway locations, we have this lawsuit.

http://www.kgw.com/news/class-action-la ... /175111598

Curiously, in NorCal, the promotion is "buy one get one free" and the Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts have a retail of $6.99 per pound this way. You can get plain ones at $2.99 per pound...

I guess "buy one get two free" at $9.99 a pound in Oregon is pretty similar to "buy one get one free" at $6.99 a pound in NorCal.
wnetmacman
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Posts: 994
Joined: January 17th, 2010, 2:36 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 44 times
Status: Offline

Re: Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by wnetmacman »

They had this practice in Louisiana before the Supervalu/Cerberus split. It didn't work well either. I haven't seen it in a while now.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1568
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by SamSpade »

I personally disliked this practice when they were doing it at Albertsons then I saw it introduced at Safeway and just shook my head. I still think a judge will throw this out though. I mean, why can't a store set its prices however it wishes, as long as the particular product is only available in that style at that price? (ie. this is "seasoned" chicken breasts, not plain) As far as I know, consumer-facing meat products do not have maximum or minimum pricing requirements in Oregon.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by storewanderer »

I don't expect the lawsuit to get anywhere (if this were California I may have a different thought).

In any case it highlights this deceptive pricing practice and will hopefully put a stop to it. It is unfortunate it came to this. Albertsons should have never done this type of thing in the first place. They already have a major problem with price image. This sort of promotion, trying to "fool" customers into thinking they are getting a good deal, is extremely offensive to customers who know what items should be priced. Albertsons did this crap back in the 90's with 12 packs of soda showing regular prices of $8.99 and then "on sale" for $4.99 or 2 liters of soda showing regular prices of $2.99 then "on sale" for 1.69 when those sales were the standard prices everywhere back then or even a little above some other stores standard prices.

Albertsons/Safeway needs to really reprice its stores, get a campaign going saying they have fixed pricing, eliminate the club card for sale pricing, and end the games once and for all on price. Smaller competitors can price much better than they do. There is just no excuse for their pricing given their size.
pseudo3d
Posts: 3851
Joined: November 12th, 2015, 7:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 77 times
Status: Offline

Re: Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by pseudo3d »

storewanderer wrote:I don't expect the lawsuit to get anywhere (if this were California I may have a different thought).

In any case it highlights this deceptive pricing practice and will hopefully put a stop to it. It is unfortunate it came to this. Albertsons should have never done this type of thing in the first place. They already have a major problem with price image. This sort of promotion, trying to "fool" customers into thinking they are getting a good deal, is extremely offensive to customers who know what items should be priced. Albertsons did this crap back in the 90's with 12 packs of soda showing regular prices of $8.99 and then "on sale" for $4.99 or 2 liters of soda showing regular prices of $2.99 then "on sale" for 1.69 when those sales were the standard prices everywhere back then or even a little above some other stores standard prices.

Albertsons/Safeway needs to really reprice its stores, get a campaign going saying they have fixed pricing, eliminate the club card for sale pricing, and end the games once and for all on price. Smaller competitors can price much better than they do. There is just no excuse for their pricing given their size.
It doesn't need to go anywhere, and I expect that Albertsons will probably settle by offering coupons to customers and stopping the deceptive BOGO sales.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by storewanderer »

I don't think there is anything to settle. They haven't done anything wrong in the name of the law. They can price items however they want. It is just flat out stupid pricing and attempting to fool customers. In the end it just hurts their image and drives customers away. This is a store vs. customer issue. Not a store vs. law issue.
BillyGr
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1578
Joined: October 5th, 2010, 7:33 pm
Been thanked: 58 times
Status: Offline

Re: Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by BillyGr »

Other stores in this area do similar and people complain as well. All you really have to do is see what the real price is (ie the $6.99 B1G1F really works out to $3.50 per pound) and compare that to what other stores are charging to see if it's a better deal or not in the long run.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Lawsuit over Albertsons deceptive meat promotions

Post by storewanderer »

Today in the NorCal Buy One get one free meat at Safeway: Seasoned bone-in ribeye steak: $17.99/lb. Steaks clock in at $22-$25.

A few feet away in the regular area, packs of bone-in ribeye steak at card price $8.99/lb (regular $11.99/lb).

I guess it works out the same assuming you get two steaks of identical size from the buy one get one free rack?

I think they should focus their meat department efforts on the service case and driving traffic to the service case (this was a program Albertsons was successful with in the 90's) rather than this sort of deceptive stuff. One of the things Albertsons did in its service cases with meat/chicken was, often, offer items at a lower price through that case than through the prepackaged items. Or, extend the advertised "value pack" price to any size package if you go to the service case. This gave the service case the opportunity to upsell bacon, ground beef, chicken, pork chops, steak, etc. and also usually gave a positive service experience to the customer.
Post Reply