After settling a $45 million lawsuit for overcharging customers, Walmart is now forced to compensate shoppers with payments of up to $500 each.
The class action suit was filed in Florida after shoppers accused the retail giant of overcharging.
The company was accused of overcharging for certain pay-by-weight items, such as produce.
The settlement class includes those who bought weighted goods or bagged citrus in person at a Walmart in the United States or Puerto Rico between October 18, 2018, and January 19, 2024.
The maximum amount Walmart will pay each customer is $500.
Claim forms can be filed online or mailed in by June 5.
However, shoppers must file a claim in order to receive a payment.
The lawsuit stated Walmart “falsely inflates the product weight” and overcharges shoppers.
The weighted goods that are eligible include meat, poultry, pork, and seafood products that are labeled with a price-embedded bar code and designated by Walmart as part of its Department 93 products.
As for bagged citrus, that includes organic oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and navel oranges sold in bulk in mesh or plastic bags.
The terms exclude online and resale purchases.
The amount paid out to each customer will depend on the number of people who file claims.
However, the claims will also ride on whether the U.S. District Court in Tampa decides to approve the settlement itself.
That decision is set to be reached in June but will most likely be approved due to both parties agreeing on the deal.
Customers with a receipt, proof of purchase, or other documentation can recoup 2 percent of the total cost up to $500.
That amount sharply decreases for those without a receipt.
The breakdown is as follows:
- For purchases of 50 eligible items claimed, shoppers are entitled to $10.
- For purchases of 51 to 75 eligible items claimed, shoppers are entitled to $15
- For purchases of 76 to 100 eligible items claimed, shoppers are entitled to $20
- For purchases of 101 or more eligible items claimed, shoppers are entitled to $25
The deadline to object, comment or exclude from the settlement – meaning people won’t receive a payment, but reserve the right to sue the company – is May 22.
In a statement, a Walmart representative denied the allegations.
However, the company conceded that a settlement was “in the best interest of both parties.”
The issue of overcharging was initially exposed by Tampa man Vassilios Kukorinis, the lead plaintiff in the class action suit.
According to Kukorinis, charges at the register exceeded what prices should have been based on the store’s posted prices-by-weight.
He visited Walmart stores around the state to gather evidence.
Kukorinis then presented the evidence to lawyers at the Manhattan-based firm Morgan & Morgan.
Morgan & Morgan sent its own investigators to Walmart stores before filing a class action complaint in February 2019.
In November 2019, Kukorinis flew to California with lawyers for a mediation session with the retail chain.
Morgan & Morgan subsequently reached a settlement with Walmart’s lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.
However, Kukorinis claimed he wasn’t notified of the result.
In 2020, the Florida man vowed not to accept his $25,000 service award.
Kukorinis deemed the settlement a “betrayal to all class action members, orchestrated without my knowledge.”
