Chick-Fil-A Charges More for Delivery than Advertised, Class Action Alleges [UPDATE]
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on December 12, 2023
Goldstein v. Chick-Fil-A, Inc.
Filed: June 21, 2022 ◆§ 1:22-cv-21897
A lawsuit alleges Chick-Fil-A has misleadingly advertised free or low-cost delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic while inflating food prices for delivery orders.
December 12, 2023 – Chick-fil-A Delivery Fee Settlement Website is Live
The official settlement website for the Chick-fil-A lawsuit detailed on this page is live and can be found at DeliveryOrderSettlement.com.
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To file a claim, head to this page and enter the unique ID located in your email notice of the settlement. If you lost or did not receive a notice, contact the settlement administrator to obtain your unique ID.
Claims must be submitted online or by mail by February 15, 2024. Details of the settlement can be found in the update below.
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October 19, 2023 – Chick-fil-A Delivery Fee Lawsuits Settled for Up To $4.4 Million in Cash, Gift Cards
Chick-fil-A has agreed to pay up to $4.4 million in cash and gift cards to settle the proposed class action detailed on this page and at least four related cases that alleged the restaurant deceptively promised free or low-cost deliveries.
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The settlement covers anyone who made a Chick-fil-A delivery order through the restaurant’s app or website between November 1, 2019 and April 30, 2021 from a Chick-fil-A location in California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey or New York.
According to a memo filed in support of the settlement, Chick-fil-A has agreed to pay $1.45 million into a cash fund and provide $2.95 million in electronic gift cards to eligible class members who submit timely and valid claims. Consumers covered by the settlement can elect to receive either cash or an electronic gift card, not both, court documents state.
Both cash payments and gift cards will have a value of up to $29.25, according to the settlement agreement, but the amounts may be reduced depending on the total number of claims filed.
In order to receive cash or a gift card from the settlement, consumers must file a timely and valid claim on the official settlement website.
In addition to monetary and gift card compensation, Chick-fil-A has agreed to revise the disclosures on its app and website to “state expressly that menu prices may be higher for delivery orders” and to “keep these disclosures in place indefinitely as long as they are applicable to delivery orders.”
Approximately 400,000 Chick-fil-A customers who are covered by the deal will be notified of such via email, court documents state, noting that Chick-fil-A has agreed to provide the email addresses of affected consumers to the settlement administrator.
Superior Court Judge Craig L. Schwall, Sr. granted preliminary approval of the settlement, which covers five consolidated proposed class actions, on October 2, 2023.
A final approval hearing is scheduled for February 29, 2024. Class members typically receive benefits from a settlement after it has received final approval from the court and any objections or appeals have been resolved.
Per court documents, the settlement stems from one of the first lawsuits filed nationwide to allege that a restaurant’s delivery fees are not actually flat or low-cost as advertised.
ClassAction.org will update this page if and when an official settlement website is launched.
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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Chick-Fil-A has misleadingly advertised free or low-cost delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic despite imposing a hidden delivery charge by way of inflated food prices.
The 17-page case states that although Chick-Fil-A promises free or low-price delivery, the fast food giant fails to disclose that food prices for delivery orders are marked up by “a hefty 25-30%.” According to the case, this upcharge makes Chick-Fil-A’s promise of free or low-price delivery “patently false” given the markup is essentially a hidden delivery cost.
“In short, the ‘Delivery Fee’ is not actually $2.99 or $3.99,” the complaint argues. “The actual ‘Delivery Fee’—the extra charge for having food delivered as opposed to picking it up—is the listed ‘Delivery Fee’ plus the hidden food markup applied exclusively to delivery orders. Chick-fil-A does not inform consumers the true costs of its delivery service and it misrepresents its ‘Delivery Fee’ as $2.99 or $3.99, when in fact that cost is actually much higher.”
The lawsuit claims that Chick-Fil-A’s allegedly misleading delivery costs have tricked customers into making online food purchases they otherwise would not have made.
According to the case, the defendant first offered delivery services in 2019 for a “transparent delivery fee” of $4.99. At that time, menu prices were the same regardless of whether an order was placed for pickup or delivery, the suit relays.
Per the case, the COVID-19 pandemic created for Chick-Fil-A an “opportunity for exploitation.” The lawsuit says the restaurant began advertising “free,” $2.99 or $3.99 delivery fees in order to compete in what became an overcrowded delivery market. Unbeknownst to customers, however, Chick-Fil-A also began to raise menu prices by 25 to 30 percent for delivery orders only as a means to cover costs and generate a profit, the case alleges.
Per the suit, this “manipulation” of pricing was never disclosed to customers, and it was “impossible” for them to discover the markup themselves given Chick-Fil-A’s app and website were designed to show menu prices only after a customer chooses between delivery and pickup, the case says.
“Instead of fairly and transparently disclosing this change to its customers—who were already under tremendous stress from the pandemic—Chick-fil-A chose to operate in the shadows,” the complaint reads. “It continued to make a clear promise that the total, marginal cost of having food delivered versus picking it up in store was represented by a new FREE or $2.99 or $3.99 Delivery Fee. But because it secretly inflated menu prices on delivery orders only, and never informed customers of this policy, it misrepresented the true cost of delivery.”
The case charges that “hundreds of thousands” of Chick-Fil-A customers have been duped by the fast-food company’s alleged misrepresentations regarding the cost of delivery.
The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in Florida who, within the applicable statute of limitations period and until the date of class certification, ordered food delivery through the Chick-Fil-A mobile app or website and was assessed a higher delivery charge than represented.
The suit was initially filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court on May 19 before being removed to Florida’s Southern District Court on June 21, 2022.
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