Loblaws admits to bread price fixing (with immunity) & Offers $25 Gift Card

[luckbealady]

It's been said a number of times a utility bill with your "critical info" blacked out will do. Remember you have already given your name. address and email.
I am surprised at the number of "ID theft wary" folks even applied for this.
Some people will not respond to them because they do not exist. More than 1 person created a "New family".

I think the concern is more for people like me - no utility bill to black out, so it would have to be a driver's license. And $25 is not worth me sending a copy of that.

[flemeth]

I did not get an email for any other info and did not receive the gift card. In my house no one will be willing to give that kind of info. So hoping we are not ask for it. I think Loblaws is hoping for lots of us not to send in our info.

[cath007]

I wont send my infos if I get the e-mail so ...for me it is a fiasco offer..I am not trusting Loblaws anymore.If I get the card that is fine if not .....well....i will not be happy but what could we do.

[Silk]

Instead of giving this lousy $ 25 GC and demanding ID's. Another PR nightmare, How about just reduce the price of bread in store ?
They could have just deliberately dropped the price of bread in their store for 1 year or so. No fraud would have taken place and most people would have recovered the $ 25 that way with low grocery prices.
If they could increase/price fix the prices for 14 years and commit fraud & gouge people for way more than $ 25 over 14 years, surely they can artificially reduce the prices for 1 year or so.
No need to mail cards, collect people's personal info, waste time & energy, envelopes, paper, stamps , gas ( not too eco friendly ) in sending 25 bucks out .

@tjthemanto - the problem with this idea is that people who used to buy regular bread at a Loblaws store but no longer do would not benefit. Many people, including myself, have discovered they are Celiac or gluten-sensitive, or they are following a low-carb diet for health reasons

[sampler]

Today, I got one card ( I am in Toronto) ! So they are still coming....

Still waiting on one more card for my house though.

[tjthemanto]

Today, I got one card ( I am in Toronto) ! So they are still coming....

Still waiting on one more card for my house though.

When did you apply for both of them ?

Any email yet, asking for ID or utility bill for the second card ?

[tjthemanto]

https://www.strosbergco.com/class-actions/bread/

If you want to Join the Class Action Lawsuit against the Bread price fixing

[Silk]

https://www.strosbergco.com/class-actions/bread/
If you want to Join the Class Action Lawsuit against the Bread price fixing

Thanks for posting. I see Quebec is excluded from this lawsuit. Anyone know if there is a separate one for Quebec?

[Cuckoobird]

https://www.strosbergco.com/class-actions/bread/

If you want to Join the Class Action Lawsuit against the Bread price fixing

Thanks for the link. Definitely joining the class action lawsuit. Just got the email from Loblaws asking for additional documents. My hubby did not. Just 2 adults in the household. Not happy at all

[Colsgirl]

Thanks for the link. Definitely joining the class action lawsuit. Just got the email from Loblaws asking for additional documents. My hubby did not. Just 2 adults in the household. Not happy at all

I was reading lawyers comments on a link on the class action page and it was saying that by accepting the $25 consumers may be signing away more rights than they realize ... if the cards do turn up, I'm half tempted to send them back and just go with the class action.

[Cake]

I think the concern is more for people like me - no utility bill to black out, so it would have to be a driver's license. And $25 is not worth me sending a copy of that.

There is a phone # for people like you. But again maybe it's not about the gift card?

[bhlombardy]

I was reading lawyers comments on a link on the class action page and it was saying that by accepting the $25 consumers may be signing away more rights than they realize ... if the cards do turn up, I'm half tempted to send them back and just go with the class action.

It's not an either/or situation. You can keep the card(s) -- but if you enrol with the lawsuit, should the individual awards be more than $25 then your reward will be deducted by $25 (the amount of the card). If the award is LESS (or non existent) then you keep the $25 card.


To put further perspective on this, consider the reality of class action lawsuits...

If one were to try and sue Loblaws, personally, for the money he/she lost for this incident over the years, one might be able to claim a loss of about maybe a thousand dollars (the average consumer is rumored to have lost about $400 over the period). However the abilty to fight them would be tricky. You'd need a lot of proof, evidence, etc to identify how much you actually lost due to their act. Even if you could provide and prove all of that, the legal costs would well exceed the reward, making the suit pointless.

That's where a class-action suit comes in. The point of participating in a class-action lawsuit (where the harm is primarily financial) is to provide the ability for individuals to combine their efforts and sue when the case already exists. You might be invited to join in the claim at no up-front legal expenses.

But the misconception is that you will get back what YOU lost as an individual, and that's not how class-action suits work.

What is not advertised is the penalty that they'll likely have to pay out. Primarily because no one really knows. However, the reality is that activities such as this bread-fixing scheme often have maximum penalties that will be required to be paid out by the defendant. That penalty might be a large amount, but it certainly won't calculate to the potential thousand dollars each person might have personally lost. Because the suit is about the colusion and otherwise "single act", the penalty becomes largely irrespective of how many people were affected or were part of the suit. Instead it's a penalty for the act itself. So the penalty is one large sum, and again usually would be set to a maximum amount.

That amount gets divided equally among everyone who was listed to participate in the class action. BEFORE it gets paid out to the claimants, however, the lawyers take a chunk of that amount first -- that's how they get paid. Typically, the more participants there are, the more they are allowed to take. (That's why they are encouraging people to join in) -- Lawyers are the ones you REALLY benefit from these suits.

HYPOTHETICALLY: By the time this is all over, let's say Loblaws/Weston are penalized $10,000,000 (i doubt it will be anywhere near that, but this is hypothetical) -- and let's say a mere 500,000 (and I'd wager it might be more) Canadians register for the class-action lawsuit... that's $20 to each person, and I havent yet factored the lawyers' cut. You'd be lucky to come out with $10 after that. -- AND you'll be waiting well over a year or more while this gets figured out, the dust settles, and payments start rolling out.

A class action lawsuit sounds like a big deal -- and it is... but only to the defendant and the lawyers. To the claimants and the participants, not typically.

I'm not saying it's not worth throwing your name in the ring to the lawsuit, just to see what happens... but dont expect a major payout. And also, don't reject the $25 card. It doesnt indemnify your ability to participate. And if you do wind up with a $1000 reward, well your cheque will be for $975 instead because you already got $25. No real harm done.

--
OH, and if you find the idea of providing ID in the form of a driver's license or utility bill offensive, just wait and see what's asked of you to participate in a class-action lawsuit. Because this is a public lawsuit, your name and address could quite likely become a matter of public record. Just saying.

[sampler]

When did you apply for both of them ?

Any email yet, asking for ID or utility bill for the second card ?

Both were applied on the first day of registration. I haven't gotten an email yet for the missing card.

I registered my mother in law (using her address -she isn't tech savy) on the same day (after I registered my 2 cards for my house) and she got an email a few days ago asking for additional info. She won't do anything about it though.

[sampler]

ignore this post.

[olivercat]

My card arrived today. Just in time for my 'no spend' month.