Canada Post stands accused of practicing “price dripping,” under a newly sanctioned class-action suit.
The Federal Court sanctioned the suit against Canada Post this week. The class-action suit was launched by B.C. businessman and Canada Post customer Marci Deane on behalf of eligible Canadians.
Deane states in her suit that three of the postal carrier’s web-based shipping services violate the Competition Act.
The accusations :
The lawsuit alleges that Canada Post customers who used its internet services were not properly notified of the final shipping fee.
The allegations had been made on three of Canada Post’s internet services: Snap Ship (an internet site for small businesses), Shipping Manager (a center that allows companies to print labels), and Ship Online (an internet site which permits consumers to create, print, and pay for labels online)
In the lawsuit, Deane alleges that “those internet-based services do not reveal the complete shipping cost by subsequently adding a ‘fuel surcharge.'” Thus, Canada Post has been charged with “drip pricing” and “double ticketing.”
According to Canada’s Competition Bureau, drip pricing occurs when the price you get is not the price you pay, when the total cost of a service or product is not quoted up front, or when there are unexpected hidden fees. Double ticketing occurs when two prices are displayed, and you get to pay the higher one.
But Canada Post argues that “the Statement of Claim discloses no viable cause of action.” In the document, it argues that it reveals price on a single webpage and customers cannot complete their purchase without viewing the fuel surcharge. It also argued that Canadians such as Deane, who have business accounts, agreed to the ancillary terms that fuel surcharges could be applied to shipping services.
We have reached out to Canada Post for their response to the claims set out in the suit.
Based on these claims, Deane sues on her own behalf and on behalf of qualified class members. She claims that since she and the class members “were entitled to the first price” they lost and/or suffered damage in an amount equal to the fuel surcharge, plus investigation and legal fees.
Are you eligible ?
According to the court document, you might be eligible if you meet certain criteria :
• you are part of the class
• you are a resident of Canada and have used Canada Post’s online services Snap Ship, Ship Online or Shipping Manager from and including June 23, 2022. You might be eligible if you’ve paid a fuel surcharge.
DoorDash has also been recently sued by the Competition Bureau, which accused the company of price-dipping.