Jan 8, 2018
Loblaw adds conditions to $25 cards for bread price fixing
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Canadians are now able to register for a $25 card from Loblaw (L.TO) as compensation for the company intentionally overcharging on bread over 14 years, but the grocery chain is attaching some strings to its offering.
Qualifying customers simply need to have purchased at least one of a dozen different bread brands between January 1, 2002 and March 1, 2015 from any Loblaw-owned store. Not every Canadian will be able to claim the card, however, as a new addition to the LoblawCard.ca website notes the company “reserves the right to limit the number of cards that will be issued under” the program.
In announcing the program in mid-December, Loblaw said the program would cost up to $150 million, suggesting the limit will be roughly six million cards.
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Do you think Loblaw is doing enough to rebuild goodwill after the bread scandal?
Not everything sold at Loblaw-owned locations can be purchased using the card either. Alcohol and tobacco products, gasoline and services such as cooking classes are among the restrictions included in the Loblaw Card Cardholder Agreement.
Then there is the critical question of customers’ legal rights. While another new addition to the website clearly states that obtaining the card “will not affect customers’ right to participate in any class action or to receive any incremental compensation that may be awarded by the court,” the fine print says otherwise.
Before registering to receive a card, customers must first agree to a legal release found toward the bottom of the registration form.
They can still participate in a class action, the release notes, before warning “doing so will mean that twenty-five (25) dollars will be deducted from any compensation that you may otherwise be entitled to receive in any class action judgment against, or settlement with, Loblaw.”
