If you’re like many people during the pandemic you’ve noticed that the price of…well heck, everything has increased. The culprit, according to the government, was skyrocketing inflation. But what if companies were deliberately raising prices just to increase their bottom line? Bold claim, right? Unfortunately, that’s exactly the premise in a recent class action lawsuit filed against major retail giant, Walmart.
Are you eligible for a potential Walmart settlement? If you regularly shop at Walmart you just might be.
Class-Action Lawsuit
According to an NPR article, written by Rachel Treisman, in 2022 a class action lawsuit was filed against Walmart accusing the retailer of “deceivingly, misleadingly, and unjustly pilfering it’s customers hard earned grocery dollars" by overcharging for certain weighted products.
When we say weighted products think of things you place on a scale-specifically meats, chicken, seafood, and citrus fruits like oranges and tangerines. Click here to see the complete list.
According to the lawsuit allegations, Walmart
- inflated the weight of those items,
- mislabeled the weight of bagged produce, and
- overcharged for sold-by-weight clearance products.
All of these actions, resulted in customers being forced to pay more than the lowest advertised price.
Despite denying all of these allegations, Walmart agreed to a forty-five million dollar settlement (you read that correctly-$45,000,000). Why? Well, in this case the phrase 'all publicity is good publicity' isn’t advantageous. Walmart has built its empire primarily due to marketing prices so low that sales were not needed. Remember those old school roll back commercials?
With so much emphasis on having low prices, the worst thing Walmart could do is create any sense of doubt that its pricing may not be as low as consumers trust it to be. Hence, the $45,000,000 settlement. So, how do you get a share of that settlement money?
Filing a Settlement Claim
Did you shop at Walmart between Oct. 2018 and Jan 2024? Did you purchase any weighted goods while you were there? If you answered ‘yes' to any of those questions you maybe entitled to a settlement payout. Here’s what you need to know to file a claim.
Receipt
Customers that provide proof of purchases (i.e. receipts) can receive 2% of the total cost of the weighted goods up to $500 per person.
No Receipt
If you don’t have a receipt you may still be able to get between $10-$25 depending on the number of weighted products purchased during that timeframe.
Either way; you have until June 5, 2024 to submit a claim online or by mail.