Slater Vecchio LLP is investigating allegations that A&W has breached Canada’s Competition Act through its pricing of menu items sold through its mobile application.
It is alleged that A&W’s failure to disclose the existence of a Service Delivery Fee that is charged on delivery orders made through A&W’s mobile application at the outset of the purchasing process constitutes “drip pricing” and “double ticketing”.
Drip pricing or double ticketing may occur when the first price that a company advertises for a product or service does not equal the final price at checkout because the company adds non-government-imposed fees on top of the originally represented price. The fees are typically called a “service fee,” a “process fee,” or an “improvement fee.”
A class action is a legal case through which one person makes a claim to the Court on behalf of a similarly situated class of people who have the same or a similar legal claim. A class action seeks to hold a defendant or defendants responsible for their conduct that affects each class member by resolving issues common to the class in the same legal proceeding, instead of each class member bringing a claim individually.
The individual who first files the claim must ask the Court for permission to proceed as a class action. If permission is granted (referred to as “authorized” in Quebec and “certified” in all other Canadian provinces) and the case may proceed as a class action, the Court will appoint an individual as “Representative Plaintiff” to represent the best interests of the class during the litigation and will define the class group. Each person who meets the criteria of the class group is considered a “Class Member.”
If you ordered food for delivery through A&W’s mobile application and were charged a Delivery Service Fee, please fill out the form on this webpage, and a representative from Slater Vecchio LLP will reach out to you.
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