Caleb Haley bought a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream at Safeway in one of the grocery giant’s “Buy One, Get One Free” promotions, paying $7.49. The same tub cost $4 the day before the deal started and dropped back down to that price immediately after it ended.
“Consumers making purchases under these promotions do not get a free product,” the lawsuit against Safeway and its parent firm Albertsons alleged. “Instead, they pay more for the product and buy more of the product than they otherwise would to obtain the illusory ‘free’ product.” “Thus, a purchaser has a right to believe that the merchant will not directly and immediately recover, in whole or in part, the cost of the free merchandise or service by marking up the price of the article which must be purchased.”