Who May Participate In The Safeway BOGO Class Action Settlement?
If you purchased certain meat items at a Safeway store in Oregon during a “Buy One, Get One Free” (“BOGO”) or “Buy One, Get Two Free” sale from May 4, 2015 through September 7, 2016 (the “Class Period”), you could be entitled to money from the Safeway BOGO Class Action Settlement. Stewart et al. v. Albertsons Companies, Inc., Case No. 16CV15125. The settlement resolves claims that Safeway and its parent company Albertsons increased prices on certain promotional meat items, which allegedly caused customers to not receive the benefit of advertised sales. To see if you qualify as a class member and what it took for you to participate, keep reading.
Class Definition: Who Is A Class Member?
You are a member of the Settlement Class if you meet all of the following requirements:
- You purchased one or more Eligible Meat Products at a Participating Safeway store in Oregon.
- You purchased the Eligible Meat Products as part of a “Buy One, Get One Free” (BOGO) or “Buy One, Get Two Free” (WG2F) offer.
- The Eligible Meat Products were purchased between May 4, 2015 and September 7, 2016.
- You used a Safeway Club Card at the time of purchase.
The class is comprised only of customers who made Qualifying Purchases in Oregon during the Class Period. A customer’s purchase must have been made in Oregon, and for the applicable promotion listed above. If a customer made qualifying purchases in other states, outside of the relevant time period, or without using a Safeway Club Card for their purchase, he or she did not make a “Qualifying Purchase.”
How The Court Determined Who Is Eligible
Safeway transaction records (associated with Safeway Club Card numbers) were used to identify class members who purchased promotional products during the applicable period. If your purchases satisfied the class definition, you were automatically identified as a class member or you could submit a claim if you believed you were a class member but you did not receive the notice directly.
Those who received a notice in the mail or via email were pre-identified through Safeway’s records. Those who did not receive a notice but believed they were part of the Class could file a claim by June 16, 2023, to be considered. Claims needed proof (i.e., Club Card number, receipts) that the claimant was a class member.
Automatic Payments and Submission of Claims
Class members did not have to do anything: if you were mailed a notification, it was automatically worth about $200. If you think you are a class member, but weren’t notified, you had to file your claim by June 16, 2023. Claims and distributions of payments were administered by the official Claims Administrator Postlethwaite & Netterville starting September 25, 2023.
There were options for exclusion from the settlement or objection to it but all applicable deadlines have now lapsed. No additional claims, objections or exclusions are being received.
Which Products and Promotions Are Subject to The Settlement
The settlement applies only to fresh meat products (beef, pork, poultry) sold as part of Safeway’s “buy 1 get 1 free” promotion and “buy 1 get 2 free” promotion. Not all Safeway promotions or the products they offer fall within the scope of the settlement-it applies only to those with the narrowly tailored elements as described in this post. At issue in the case was whether those products were sold at higher prices than usual during periods of promotional sales that purported to sell the product at a discount, thus undermining the advertised savings.
Safeway was represented by Jordan Sauchik and Matt Tesser of Morrison & Foerster.
Territorial and Temporal Scope of The Settlement
The purchases eligible for this class action settlement were only made in Oregon Safeway stores. The class period is limited to sales between May 4, 2015 through September 7, 2016. Purchases not in Oregon, purchased from an Albertsons store, or purchased outside the period above are not affected by the settlement. Note also that the lawsuit and settlement do not apply to Safeway stores outside of Oregon, nor any purchases made after September 7, 2016.
What If I’m Not Sure About My Eligibility?
If you were not sure whether your purchases qualified, you were urged to contact the Claims Administrator with your Safeway Club Card number and information about your purchases. The Claims Administrator had Safeway’s purchase history and would be able to assist you with your eligibility in satisfying its requirements. As of now, deadlines for new claims have all passed. Only class members who were previously identified or who received approval from the earlier notice are entitled to settlement payments.
Why You Only Need To Visit The Official Settlement Website
When you need to know correct information and be sure your rights are protected, the official Safeway BOGO Class Action Settlement website is: https://safewaybogoclassaction.com/. The Court supervises the website. The website is run by lawyers at the law firm of Postlethwaite & Netterville-the Court-appointed Claims Administrator. Information at any other site may be incomplete or inaccurate. Contact information for changes, payment, news updating information, etc., appears below.
Contact The Claims Administrator
If you have a question about whether you qualify, whether you’ve been paid, or whether your contact information has changed, please contact the official Claims Administrator:
Claims Administrator
Safeway BOGO Settlement
789 N Cascade Ave Ste 58
Colorado Springs CO 80903
(719) 925-0282
[email protected]
www.safewaybogoclassaction.com
For your protection, do not provide personal information to any source other than the official contacts above. All administration of the settlement is handled through the official Claims Administrator under Court supervision.