Dive Brief:
- Publix is facing a class action lawsuit alleging the grocer overcharged consumers for certain on-sale foods sold by weight, such as meats, cheeses and deli items.
- The grocer’s point of sale system allegedly altered the weights of sale items to weigh more than they actually did, according to the complaint, filed Feb. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
- The lawsuit also alleges that Publix regularly displays signs for expired sales in stores and displays incorrect pricing per unit shelf stickers for baby formula.
Dive Insight:
The lawsuit claims that Publix is engaging in a “deceptive weighting scheme” by programming its POS system to automatically adjust the weights of products at checkout in a way that inflates the company’s sales revenues and profits.
“[Publix’s] practice of increasing the weight of the product after advertising a specific price per unit of weight is deceptive, misleading, and designed to inflate the total price paid by consumers,” according to the complaint.
Publix did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
The complaint notes, for example, that the plaintiff purchased 2.83 pounds of pork tenderloins that were $2 off with a sale price of $4.99 per pound. Publix’s POS system showed the item as 3.96 pounds with the $4.99 sale price, resulting in the plaintiff being charged $19.78 — a 40% overcharge, or $5.66 more than the advertised price.
The lawsuit says that receipts have falsely claimed savings on weighted sale items but don’t include product weights, so customers would not know if they are being overcharged unless they see the listed weights on the checkout screen.
“In multiple instances when Plaintiff complained about an overcharge, the Publix employee insisted that she was wrong,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit claims that Publix has failed to implement changes to its POS system to prevent false and misleading pricing and weights.
The lawsuit is seeking damages on behalf of the plaintiff and similarly situated consumers as well as a declaratory judgment requiring Publix to update its POS system so that it doesn’t change the weights of goods.
