Washington AG Nick Brown sues Safeway, Albertsons, Haggen over alleged ‘BOGO’ price gouging

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Albertsons Companies, alleging its Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen stores overcharged customers in millions of transactions through deceptive “buy one, get one free” promotions.

The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, claims that over the last five years, the Boise-based grocery giant, which operates 225 stores across Washington under the Safeway, Albertsons, and Haggen banners, misled shoppers by inflating prices ahead of BOGO deals.

Lawsuit claims price hikes created illusion of discount on common items

According to the complaint, the stores raised prices on common items such as bread, cereal, produce, and olive oil in the weeks or months before running the promotions, then lowered prices again shortly after the deals ended. The practice allegedly created the illusion of a discount, while consumers effectively paid more for the first item.

“Our investigation found that this deceptive practice applied to all sorts of advertised deals on common products that every Washingtonian is buying, like bread and ice cream, coffee, cereals, supplements, and produce,” Brown said during a press conference in Olympia on Monday. “Consumers walk into these stores and think that they’re getting a bargain. They’re being told that they’re getting a deal, but in reality, they’re just paying an inflated price for that first item.”

In one example cited in the lawsuit, an Albertsons store in Gig Harbor increased the price of a bottle of olive oil from $6.99 to $10.99 ahead of a BOGO promotion, which is a 57% jump, before dropping the price back after the sale.

The attorney general’s office alleges the pricing tactics impacted more than 3 million transactions between October 2019 and May 2024, generating as much as $19.7 million in additional revenue.

“Washington consumers are already burdened by affordability issues, and we’re not going to stand by and let them get fleeced by deceptive marketing and these types of practices,” Brown said. “Yesterday, I was grocery shopping with my children, and my daughter was even commenting about how expensive our sort of regular weekly trip to the grocery store was. And so, this is something that everyone is facing, something that I face. Trying to decide what products and food to buy for your family feels more important. More important than ever before. And you know, part of that is because of misleading practices like this.”

Lawsuit seeks restitution for consumers, halt to deceptive promotions

The lawsuit accuses the companies of violating Washington’s Consumer Protection Act by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices, misrepresenting prices, and distorting competition.

Brown is asking the court to halt the promotions, require restitution for affected consumers, and impose civil penalties for each violation.

The case marks the latest legal challenge involving BOGO pricing by the company. Albertsons Companies previously paid $107 million to settle a 2016 class-action lawsuit in Oregon over similar promotions and also resolved a separate case in 2023 involving Washington stores.

In response, Albertsons Companies, the parent company for the three chains, told KIRO Newsradio that it disagrees with the lawsuit’s claims.

“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. As this is pending litigation, we will address the matter through the legal process and cannot comment further.”

Follow Luke Duecy on X. Read more of his stories here. Submit news tips here.