Lawsuit Alleges Chick-fil-A Has Secretly Been Hiking Up Prices
The lawsuit claims some food prices have been increased by as much as 30%.
By Chloe Arrojado •
While food delivery has been a saving grace for many restaurants, a class action lawsuit claims Chick-fil-A's measures have gone too far.
On September 28, plaintiffs Aneisha Pittman and Susan Ukpere filed a class action complaint against the chicken chain for offsetting its low delivery fees by charging more for its food on delivery orders.
"On delivery orders only, Chick-fil-A secretly marks up food prices for delivery orders by a hefty 25-30%. In other words, the identical order of a 30-count chicken nuggets costs approximately $5-6 more when ordered for delivery than when ordered via the same mobile app for pickup, or when ordered in-store," the lawsuit filing states.
Related: You Can't Own a Chick-fil-A Franchise. Here Are 3 Solid Alternatives.
The filing claims since the beginning of the pandemic, the chain has "moved aggressively into the food delivery business, exploiting an opportunity presented by Americans' reduced willingness to leave their homes."
The lawsuit alleges Chick-fil-A usually promises a delivery cost of $2.99 or $3.99 to set itself apart in the competitive food delivery space. But by advertising these costs, Chick-fil-A "gains an unfair upper hand on competitors that fairly disclose their true delivery charges."
Based on the explosive growth of online food delivery, the sector is set to get exponentially more competitive and crowded. According to Marketwatch, the top four U.S. food-delivery apps — Doordash, Uber, Grubhub and Postmates — saw a $3 billion collective increase in the second and third quarters of 2020. In 2019, market research company Frost & Sullivan claimed that the online food-delivery sector will grow to $200 billion in revenue by 2025.
The fast-food chain has to respond to the lawsuit by December 6.
Related: 25 Interesting Facts You Should Know About Chick-fil-A
