Safeway on the hook for $31 million in online price discrepancy
Safeway on the hook for $31 million in online price discrepancy
Safeway must refund $31 million to customers who overpaid for online purchases, a federal judge ruled Sept. 1.
The judgment by U.S. District Judge John Tigar came as the result of a class-action suit filed in 2011, alleging the retailer charged more for products purchased online than in-store.
The suit said that Safeway began marking up prices for online purchases in April 2010, in violation of its terms of service agreement, which stated prices for online and in-store purchases would be the same.
According to Courthouse News, Safeway argued that customers were aware of being overcharge for online purchases, and pointed to an online survey that revealed one in seven were either “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” about it.
Judge Tigar, however, dismissed that argument, saying, “A customer’s response that they were dissatisfied does not indicate that the customer knew of the existence of the markup or their right to price parity.”
As a result, Safeway must pay for all marked up prices for online purchases made between 2006 and 2014.