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

[tjthemanto]

The gift cards can be electronic. No need to mail out actual gift cards.

Electronic might be worse, with people creating multiple email addresses.

With mail at least once a card is mailed to a physical address, they can strike it out and no more cards to that address.

[tjthemanto]

Ahh yes gouge me out of $1000's on bread for like 15 years and offer me $25 while you walk away scott free.....

Someone needs to go to jail for this. I & others would rather have that than a $ 25 GC.

Some people out there are literally struggling & having a hand to mouth existence. They can barely put food on their table, hence the need for food banks. The difference between a $ 2 loaf of bread and $ 3 loaf could mean someone going to bed hungry or starving or even worse !

How someone can fix something as basic as this is beyond me.

[Cuckoobird]

Electronic might be worse, with people creating multiple email addresses.

With mail at least once a card is mailed to a physical address, they can strike it out and no more cards to that address.

We'll see. Electronic cards distribution can be done per valid home address too. I'm just saying that it's possible but I prefer actual gift cards.

[padyofurniture]

Sobey's and Metro claim they haven't participated in price fixing...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/brea...xing-1.4457991

[Ciel]

If Weston breads cover their Old Mill loaves too, then I did buy those sliced cracked wheat ones and the odd white loaf. I definitely bought Wonder buns now and then (discounted or full price).
Last month, I noticed that the Old Mill bread price (regular) had dropped down to $1.99 (it had been $2.19 for most of 2017). Did anyone else notice similar price changes in their favourite sliced loaf or bun products?

[tjthemanto]

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ng-scheme.html

Anti-poverty activist files $1 billion class-action lawsuit over bread price-fixing scheme

Irene Breckon of Elliot Lake, Ont., ‘outraged’ after Loblaw offered $25 gift card.

[tjthemanto]

If you accept this $ 25 GC any class action lawsuit that takes place, you will be excluded from it. You can't do both, its either or.

Generally class action law suits takes years & mostly the lawyers from both sides make money, not the general public

But as a matter of principle, maybe I might not accept the $ 25 GC, as the message we will send companies like this is that you can gouge us for 15 years with price fixing and potentially out of thousands of dollars per person & then try to buy us out with a lousy $ 25 GC.

Class action lawsuit the consumers might not make much money in the long run, but at least the right message will be sent to companies like this.

I remember BELL Canada delibrately/illegally over billing customers and CIBC bank charging illegal extra fees on their mortgages or mutual funds or something like that , and both of them got away with a slap on the wrist. After someone complained & the government investigated.

Hopefully Loblaws is held accountable for a larger amount - this will send the right message to other retailers like Wal Mart and banks, telecoms, gas stations etc also.

[tjthemanto]

If Weston breads cover their Old Mill loaves too, then I did buy those sliced cracked wheat ones and the odd white loaf. I definitely bought Wonder buns now and then (discounted or full price).
Last month, I noticed that the Old Mill bread price (regular) had dropped down to $1.99 (it had been $2.19 for most of 2017). Did anyone else notice similar price changes in their favourite sliced loaf or bun products?

I remember a few years back the Old Mill bagels - 6 pack used to be on sale almost always at 99 cents at No Frills ( Loblaws discounted store ) and suddenly it went up to $ 1.49 one day. And they almost never used to be on sale after that, and would hover around the $ 1.29 to $ 1.49 mark or even $ 1.99 sometimes !

I thought that was odd, not like the price of flour or anything else like wages had gone up during that time to account for the price increase. Never occurred to me, maybe price fixing had something to do with it.

That's when I kind of stopped buying bagels and started eating regular whole wheat bread - not that it was getting any cheaper

And then they kind of started selling 4 pack bagels for the price of 6 pack bagels - when the sales of 6 pack bagels reduced.

[tjthemanto]

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ng-scheme.html

Anti-poverty activist files $1 billion class-action lawsuit over bread price-fixing scheme

Irene Breckon of Elliot Lake, Ont., ‘outraged’ after Loblaw offered $25 gift card.

The law suit mentions the following retailers too.. so does that mean we might get something from them too ? Looking forward to apologies from them too & a $ 25 Gift Card from them also

The suit names grocers Canada Bread, Walmart, Sobeys, Giant Tiger and Metro as well as Loblaw Companies Ltd. and George Weston Ltd. as defendants, according to a statement of claim filed by Toronto-based law firm Sotos LLP.

[bhlombardy]

Most Class-action lawsuits where thousands upon thousands of claimants participate often wind up in little to nothing being paid out to the claimants.

There are limits to the amount of "damages" that can be paid out in a lawsuit such as this. When hundreds of thousands of people join such a lawsuit, more lawyers get involved, more fees... and it only means that what's left over and winds up trickling down to you and me is often next to nothing. In two to three years time, if the lawsuit is even a success, you MIGHT get $5 out of it, if you're lucky.
Dont sign up for the class-action lawsuit looking for a big payday. You wont get it. And if your intent is to punish Loblaws... then I say this:

Loblaws will pay out the $25 gift cards to all of those who apply... that's a sure thing for you and me... and guarantee "payout" for Loblaws.
The lawsuit is going to happen regardless... and they MIGHT ALSO be found guilt in the lawsuit meaning they'll pay out doubly if the lawsuit is a success.


When applying for the gift card, no one is going to have to prove they bought any of the implicated brands for the gift card. That would be a preposterous undertaking... however if you plan to participate in the lawsuit, you may be called to prove and/or testify to your claim (if not in person, by declaration by affidavit). Plus have your name and info on public record.

You might as well apply for the card and get the $25 sure-thing and let the lawyers and the few thousands who wish to take it to court do so.


... and for those who say "I don't need it, I dont care" I have an additional suggestion:


Apply for the gift card, and DONATE IT to your preferred local food-driven charity. Be it a food bank, or soup kitchen, or school breakfast program, etc.

That's what I plan to do with mine, and the ones I am encouraging my family members to do with theirs. -- even if it's one per household, that's $250 between myself, and my immediate family that will go to a local charity.

Imagine if even HALF a small city (like say the greater Moncton area of NB) did that -- say 50,000 people out of 100,000 -- it would easily exceed $1 Million donated to local food charities... and for a small city like Moncton, that would be huge. Half of Halifax? Half of Montreal? half of Toronto? Consider it...


So my two cents is: Take Loblaws for their $25 gift card and do something GOOD with it.

[jrs101]

Electronic might be worse, with people creating multiple email addresses.

With mail at least once a card is mailed to a physical address, they can strike it out and no more cards to that address.

Agreed, should be by mail. Events like this bring out the worst in some people.

[smurfete]

25$ back to consumers is way too little. Loblaws should not be exempt from the investigations.

[Arjon]

I remember a few years back the Old Mill bagels - 6 pack used to be on sale almost always at 99 cents at No Frills ( Loblaws discounted store ) and suddenly it went up to $ 1.49 one day. And they almost never used to be on sale after that, and would hover around the $ 1.29 to $ 1.49 mark or even $ 1.99 sometimes !

I thought that was odd, not like the price of flour or anything else like wages had gone up during that time to account for the price increase. Never occurred to me, maybe price fixing had something to do with it.

That's when I kind of stopped buying bagels and started eating regular whole wheat bread - not that it was getting any cheaper

And then they kind of started selling 4 pack bagels for the price of 6 pack bagels - when the sales of 6 pack bagels reduced.

I can only speak to my area of the GTA, but the Old Mill bagels still go on sale at both No Frills and RCSS for either 99 cents or $1 for a package of 6.

[wendymac]

What you need to know about the $25 Loblaw card. How do you register?
https://www.thestar.com/business/per...blaw-card.html

On Jan. 8, you will be able to claim a $25 Loblaw gift card as a promo through which the company is attempting to redeem its image in the wake of a price-fixing scandal. I shop at Loblaw's and will have no problem answering the few questions it is rumored the site will be asking. Apparently, no receipts or other documentation will required. The GCs can be donated to charity.

[mulock]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/read-t...wyer-1.3738053