Class Action Says Alberstons, Safeway Wine ‘Member Price’ Sales Are False

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A proposed class action lawsuit accuses Albertsons Companies of deceptively employing fake strikethrough reference prices for wine, misleading consumers into thinking they are getting a bargain.

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The 29-page lawsuit summarizes that “nearly every wine product” sold by Albertsons Companies, the second-largest supermarket chain in North America and the operator of Safeway and Albertsons stores, is perpetually on sale, meaning members are not receiving the bargain they thought they were. As a result of Albertsons’ use of false reference pricing for wine, consumers have been induced into making purchases they otherwise would not have made for products of lesser quality and value than they were led to believe, the case claims.

Related Reading: Fake Sale Price Lawsuits

“It is well-established that false ‘reference pricing’ violates state and federal law,” the complaint reads. “Nonetheless, Defendant employs inflated, fictitious reference prices for the sole purpose of increasing its sales.”

The suit highlights that Albertsons sells wine products with a fake strikethrough reference price—e.g., $15.99—accompanied by a purportedly lower discounted “member” price. This presentation is uniform for nearly all wine products listed on Albertsons’ and Safeway’s websites and in brick-and-mortar stores, the filing says.

In truth, the strikethrough wine prices posted by Albertsons are “purely fictitious and not based on comparable sales offerings in the market” or the former price at which the product was sold, the lawsuit alleges.

“Instead, this fictitious price is merely offered for the purpose of deceiving consumers into believing they are receiving a bargain for their purchases,” the filing reads.

As an example, the suit shares that a non-discounted bottle of Barefoot-brand Bubbly Brut Cuvée sparkling wine is available on Barefoot’s website for $11.99. The strikethrough price listed by Albertsons on its website for the same product is $15.99, meaning the company “actually upcharged [the plaintiff] while purporting to give her a discount,” the case alleges, stressing that “[t]his deceptive tactic is not a mere one-off” and has been deployed for nearly every wine product sold by Albertsons and Safeway.

The Albertsons lawsuit looks to cover all consumers who bought any wine product from Albertsons Companies in the United States during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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