Stop & Shop Overcharges In-Store Customers for Navel Oranges Compared to Online Prices, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Stop & Shop has deployed bait-and-switch pricing by selling its store brand, family-size bag of navel oranges at in-store prices roughly $3.00 higher than those advertised on its website.

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The 22-page Stop & Shop lawsuit was filed by a Connecticut resident who claims to have seen the oranges listed on StopAndShop.com as for sale at its Stratford location for $5.79 per eight-pound bag. However, upon visiting the store in May 2024, the plaintiff was surprised to find that the oranges were priced at $8.99, the case contends.

The filing alleges that similar pricing discrepancies for navel oranges were found at additional Stop & Shop locations, including at least two stores in Massachusetts. It’s also likely that the supermarket chain has used the same misleading practices to advertise other items, the suit claims.

“The pricing practice was deceptive to consumers, whether they saw the website pricing before going to the store and paying the actual in-store price or if they went to the store and paid the in-store price without having seen the website price,” the lawsuit says.

Customers who viewed the oranges on StopAndShop.com were led to believe they could buy the produce for that same price at the store, especially since the cost was not listed as an online-only price, nor accompanied by a statement that the price might not be reliable, the case says. According to the complaint, customers in this camp have been told by Stop & Shop personnel that the store would not honor the lower web price.

The case argues that shoppers who visited Stop & Shop without having viewed the web listing for navel oranges were deceived because no disclosure revealed that a lower price for the same product was available online.

“Such conduct injured [the] plaintiff and each of the other class members, in that they paid more for the unfairly and deceptively advertised product than they would have paid, absent the unfair and deceptive conduct,” the complaint says, alleging violations of Massachusetts and Connecticut consumer protection laws.

The Stop & Shop lawsuit notes that the defendant discontinued its differential pricing practice and adjusted its web advertised prices to match the posted in-store prices after receiving a demand letter from the plaintiff earlier this year.

“In so doing, Stop & Shop acknowledged the deceptive and unfair nature of its differential pricing for the Product,” the filing contends.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who purchased a family-size bag of Stop & Shop’s store brand navel oranges from a Stop & Shop retail supermarket between August 9, 2020 and August 9, 2024.

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