Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Albertsons Companies, alleging the grocery chain misled customers for years through deceptive “buy one, get one free” promotions.
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, claims Boise-based Albertsons Companies, the parent company of Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen stores, overcharged Washington consumers in more than 3 million transactions over a five-year period. The company operates 225 grocery store locations across the state.
According to the complaint, the stores used a practice known as “price hyping,” in which prices on common household items were increased in the weeks or months leading up to a BOGO promotion, then lowered again shortly after the promotion ended.
The alleged result, according to the Attorney General’s Office, is that customers believed they were receiving a free item, when in reality they were paying an inflated price for the first.
“For example, a Gig Harbor Albertsons hiked the price of a bottle of olive oil to $10.99 for the BOGO promotion from $6.99 a week earlier,” the complaint states. “After the deal ended, the price returned to $6.99.”
State officials estimate the practice generated as much as $19.7 million in additional revenue for the company between October 2019 and May 2024.
“We’re not going to stand for people getting fleeced by these deceptive practices,” Brown said. “We want to make sure we’re protecting people’s pocketbooks, and we all know that affordability is a major issue these days.”
The lawsuit alleges Albertsons violated Washington’s Consumer Protection Act by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices, including misrepresenting prices and using misleading promotions to attract customers.
The Attorney General is asking the court to:
• Stop the use of allegedly deceptive BOGO promotions
• Require full restitution to affected consumers
• Impose civil penalties for each violation
• Award additional financial remedies, including pre-judgment interest
The lawsuit also notes that this is not the first time Albertsons has faced legal action over similar practices. The company paid $107 million to settle a 2016 class-action lawsuit in Oregon related to misleading BOGO promotions and resolved a separate case in Washington in 2023 involving similar allegations.
The Attorney General’s Office said the case is part of broader efforts to protect consumers at a time when many households are already facing rising grocery costs.
Consumers who believe they may have been affected can file a complaint with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.
