Is Buy-One-Get-One Free Meat a Total Scam?

"Buy-one-get-one-free" usually entails getting something for free. But in the nebulous world of meats, things aren't always as they seem.

The dollar-per-pound pricing of most items in the meat aisle is not typically the easiest for consumers to navigate, and, as with most instances of pricing ambiguity, vendors may try to take advantage of it.

According to a lawsuit filed this week, grocery giants Albertsons and Safeway, both owned by parent company Albertsons LLC, have been jacking the prices of buy-one-get-one-free meats in such a way that consumers are indeed paying for their "free" meat.

As the strongly worded lawsuit, listed as a class action, puts it, consumers are "paying more per pound than regularly-priced meat, and they are buying more meat in order to obtain the illusory 'free' product. These 'free' sales constitute unfair and deceptive practices."

In other words, in order to entice consumers to buy more, Albertsons stores have been using "buy-one-get-one-free" ("BOGO") and "buy-one-get-two-free" promotions, but misleadingly labelling and pricing them in a manner that isn't a true deal for the customer

As an example, the lawsuit cites various BOGO cuts of meat, like beef bottom round and pork chops, were inflated to more than double their normal per-pound price, meaning that the grocers never lost money on these attractive deals.

The most staggering price inflation cited in the suit was chicken breast at $1.99 per pound to Club Card members while selling seasoned boneless, skinless chicken breasts sold for $9.99 per pound in the "buy-one-get-one-free" scheme. The class action claims that it is open to anyone who bought meat products in a buy-one-get-one-free, buy-one-get-two-free, or buy-one-get-three-free deal in the last year at Albertsons stores.

Albertsons said they could not comment on the case, but that providing value to customers is a paramount consideration. "We have not yet been served with a complaint and do not typically comment on pending litigation," Albertsons/Safeway spokeswoman Jill McGinnis told MUNCHIES in an e-mail. "However, we stand behind our product offerings and our efforts to provide quality, service, and value to our customers."

At this point, who knows what the truth is? The answers are rarely clear in the mysterious world of meats.