Washington sues Albertsons, Safeway for ‘deceptive’ deals

From October 2019 to May 2024, the companies brought in as much as $19.7 million with the deceptive deals, Washington Attorney General Brown said

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Washington Attorney General Nick Brown filed a lawsuit against Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen on Monday, alleging the grocery chains are deceiving shoppers with “buy one get one free” deals.

According to the lawsuit, the corporate owner of Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen has overcharged customers in more than three million transactions within a five-year period by using deceptive “buy one get one free deals.”

Albertsons Companies – which is the parent company of Safeway and Haggen – is among the largest grocery chains in the United States, Brown said, explaining the company operates all Safeway, Albertsons and Haggen stores in Washington, totaling 225 stores in the state.

Brown argues that the stores entice shoppers with the BOGO promotions on everyday items such as bread, cereal, fresh produce and olive oil.

The lawsuit, filed in King County, says the stores artificially increase prices of products slated for the deals in the weeks and months before the BOGO promotion is introduced. Brown says this overcharges customers in the interim.

According to the lawsuit, the stores then lower prices around 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,” the Washington Attorney General’s Office said.

The lawsuit details one incident at a Gig Harbor Albertsons, which hiked the price of a bottle of olive oil to $10.99 for the BOGO promotion, after the oil was previously $6.99 a week before, marking a 57% increase.

After the BOGO deal ended, however, Brown’s office says the price went back 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.”

Brown’s office said from October 2019 to May 2024, the company brought in as much as $19.7 million with the deceptive deals.

This isn’t the first time the defendants have been accused of deceptive BOGO deals, officials note.

Brown’s office said Albertsons previously paid $107 million to settle a 2016 class action lawsuit for misleading BOGO deals in Oregon.

The companies also settled a proposed class action lawsuit filed in 2023 in federal court in another case involving BOGO deals in Washington.

The lawsuit accused the company of violating Washington’s Consumer Protection Act by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices by artificially inflating the pre-BOGO price, then lowering the price after the deal ends. The Attorney General’s Office also alleges the company misrepresented prices and therefore engaged in unfair competition.

Attorney General Brown is seeking a court ruling that the stores violated state law and end the company’s use of these practices. Brown is also seeking restitution for Washington consumers and is asking the defendants to pay civil penalties for every violation of state law, along with pre-judgement interest.

In a statement shared with KOIN 6 News, Albertsons Companies — which is the parent company of Safeway and Haggen — said, “We are aware that the Washington Attorney General has filed a lawsuit related to certain buy‑one‑get‑one promotions. We engaged in good‑faith discussions with the Attorney General’s Office and strongly disagree with its claims, which are based on flawed analysis and data errors that we identified and raised.”

“Albertsons Companies is committed to complying with the law and to offering customers clear value through our promotions,” Albertsons Companies continued. “As this is pending litigation, we will address the matter through the legal process and cannot comment further.”