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Sam’s Club was hit with a class action lawsuit Wednesday by a South Carolina woman for allegedly failing to live up to its “200 percent freshness guarantee” promise on fresh meat, seafood, bakery, and produce items.
Plaintiff Myriam Fejzulai has been a member at Sam’s Club for eight years and filed her Sam’s Club class action lawsuit on Sept. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
According to Fejzulai, Sam’s Club’s Freshness Guarantee states that there is a “200% money-back guarantee on all fresh meat, seafood, bakery and produce. Non-Members receive 100% money-back guarantee.”
Sam’s Club members are not required to show a receipt or proof of purchase to receive their 200 percent refund on such products, the freshness guarantee class action lawsuit states.
Members also have a choice between getting 200 percent back or a “refund of the original purchase price and replacement of the item,” which is explained on its “Return/Refund Exceptions” page, on Sam’s Club’s mobile website under “Terms and Conditions, and in marketing materials as well as other places, Fejzulai explains in her Sam’s Club lawsuit.
Fejzulai claims that “over the years, [she] has bought a large amount of fresh meat, bakery and produce items” at Sam’s Club.
“She has also returned a significant number of those items in the last several years,” the class action lawsuit states.
“Until May 2014, she has never been refunded more than the purchase price of the items nor ever been offered the return of her purchase plus a replacement product she was entitled to under the terms of her membership with Sam’s,” it adds.
The South Carolina woman claims “that she has returned hundreds of dollars of products covered by the 200% Freshness Guarantee over the last several years without receiving what she was contractually entitled to under the guarantee in her membership contract.”
Not only that, but she contends that Sam’s Club has failed to live up to its “200% Freshness Guarantee” with “numerous members” who have been treated “in the same manner” as Fejzulai.
“Given that Sam’s has, on information and belief, over 47 million members, plaintiff alleges that Sam’s has failed to honor the 200% Freshness Guarantee for many thousands, if not millions, of its members,” according to the Sam’s Club class action lawsuit.
Fejzulai filed the Sam’s Club class action lawsuit against Sam’s West, Inc., Sam’s East Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
She is proposing a nationwide class for all Sam’s Club’s members who purchased what Sam’s Club categorizes as a “Fresh Product” such as meat, seafood, produce or items from the bakery, returned those items, and did not receive a 200 percent refund or a 100 percent refund and have the item replaced.
Fejzulai is charging Sam’s Club with breach of contract and is asking that the retail chain be required to pay actual and consequential damages.
The plaintiff is represented by William D. Herlong of The Herlong Law Firm; and Terry E. Richardson Jr. and D. Charles Dukes II of Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brickman LLC.
Counsel information for Sam’s Club is not yet available.
The Sam’s Club Class Action Lawsuit is Fejzulai v. Sam’s West Inc. et al., Case No. 6:14-cv-03601, in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
UPDATE: On Sept. 7, 2016, a federal judge ruled that the plaintiff may continue to bring her claim against Sam’s Club but not as a class action lawsuit.
UPDATE 2: On Nov. 9, 2017, a settlement was reached in a class action lawsuit alleging Sam’s Club failed to live up to its freshness guarantee it promised club members, under which it would provide a 200 percent refund on returned fresh goods, or a full refund and replacement of the returned item. A federal judge granted preliminarily approval to the Sam’s Club class action settlement, which could be worth up to $6 million.
UPDATE 3: January 2018, the Sam’s Club freshness guarantee class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.
UPDATE 4: On Aug. 16, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail from the Sam’s Club freshness guarantee class action settlement worth $136.20! Congratulations to everyone who filed a valid claim and got PAID!
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12 thoughts onSam’s Club Hit With 200% Freshness Guarantee Class Action Lawsuit
Been shopping at Sam’s club for a long time
Well everyone, they continue to do the same practice. I came across this after cancelling my membership because of bad meat products, but never was offered more than what I paid.
I am also a business owner and I’ve had to find employees to show them something has expired. I’ve also got salad mix this year that have messed up within days after buying. Yougurt in les then a week. Bread soon as you buy it. Smells old
UPDATE: On Sept. 7, 2016, a federal judge ruled that the plaintiff may continue to bring her claim against Sam’s Club but not as a class action lawsuit.
I am a business club member and have had to EDUCATE the employees at the returns desk about their 200% freshness guarantee. They in turn call a supervisor who then in turn calls the manager who acknowledges the freshness guarantee. Your card tracks your purchases so it would be easy to prove. Get this, the store manager, assistant and newly educated returns desk staff were told “only issue Freshness Guarantee” if people ASK for it. So I started informing customers picking out produce, meats, seafood, bakery goods that if they go bad in a day or two or immediately upon cutting open, you take back and demand your 200% guarantee. There is also a guarantee on fresh cut flowers so read up folks on the brochures, catalogs, sales flyers, etc. I hope the class action lawsuit is considered valid. I don’t know about other people but I work hard for my money, gas prices to make extra trips, times wasted in traffic to return things that obviously are not properly stored, handled or perhaps left out (improper temperatures), product rotation, etc. Three watermelons in 3 days looked good on outside but rotten inside. I asked for my freshness guarantee (6/2016) and they very proudly announced they no longer have to do this and removed this promise from their stores walls, catalogs, sales brochures, etc. How sad that they were ELATED about ripping customers off with inferior products. Do health inspectors regularly check, grade and certify warehouse stores like Sam’s follow same guidelines for food safety, storage and pest control? Next time I see maggots, flies, rotten anything, I’m photographing and calling news teams. Dirty dining? Dirty grocery warehouses!
BOUGHT SPOILED BREAD FOR MY BUSINESS.
I HAD VERY HARD TIME TO RETURN IT, MANY TIMES.
I have have brought food plenty of times that wasn’t fresh. I love shopping there great deals but I hate with any store to bring something home that’s no good. money to value able in my house hold just to give away
I have also bought and complained about their ground turkey, and was only offered another pack of the same ground turkey. It was also bad, so I emailed the company and complained and was told well all they could do was replace the ground turkey. I told them to just forget it I would buy my ground turkey some place else.
Sounds like she’s fishing for a lawsuit. She claims to have returned ” hundred of dollars worth of products”. Who does that over and over again in the same store? Hope it gets dropped!
Returning “hundreds of dollars” of goods to SAMS wouldn’t be that hard to accomplish over years. Especially if your in the restaurant. business.
I purchased a can of lump crabmeat which I had to return because it was bad. I also purchased kraft shredded cheese (2 pack) which was molded. I received the amount of purchase refund but not a double refund and another product.
I have purchased veggie from Sam’s club, that wasn’t fresh, you never know until you get home and started using the food, like spinach, and lettuce, watermelon, grapes. I live to far to take back so I deal with it. I don’t purchase fresh meat. One day I had to get the man that do the product to come out and remove some rotten potatoes that was full of flies and maggots. He quickly remove not one bags but all the potatoes.