Customers Are Fighting Back Against Buffalo Wild Wings' New Takeout Fee
Buffalo Wild Wings is being targeted by a class action lawsuit due to a takeout fee that customers are calling "false and deceptive." Today reports that the hot wing chain had recently been "testing" a $0.99 fee added to takeout orders at select restaurants. The fee was then spotted on some receipts by diligent customers and was quickly met with outrage.
According to a Reddit post in r/BuffaloWildWings, these fees appear to have been around for about a year. This is a flat fee that is added to all takeout orders regardless of the order size. The user who wrote the post says this fee was added to an order of six wings, implying that it was a roughly 12% charge meant to "operate [its] takeout business."
In a more recent post that was appropriately shared to r/MildlyInfuriating, one Redditor wrote, "I've gone from living in a time when delivery was free to a time when I have to pay to pick up my own food." Plenty of other commenters were quick to point out that this added takeout fee not only seems unfair because it actually saves on labor from waiting tables but is also misleading compared to simply raising prices to reflect the necessary costs. These are the same claims reflected in the class action lawsuit that is currently in the discovery phase.
Deceptive pricing in food service
It may be some time before the lawsuit is settled- whether in a settlement or through court proceedings- but Buffalo Wild Wings says that it will be ending its takeout fees. It just might take them a few months.
The company told Today that it would be phasing out the takeout fee by the end of the summer. It also claimed that it was only "testing" the concept in select restaurants. Clearly, that test proved that customers aren't open to paying these kinds of additional fees.
Buffalo Wild Wings was also recently sued in another case of allegedly deceptive practices in March. One customer claimed that the brand's "boneless wings" are actually chicken nuggets because they are made with chicken breast pieces instead of wings that have been deboned.
Consumers have also pushed back against other deceiving delivery fees. Chick-fil-A was sued in 2021 due to delivery fees that were stacked on top of higher delivery menu prices. The brand's claim that it was offering low delivery prices was proclaimed as "patently false" by the plaintiffs in the case. Buffalo Wild Wings' fate remains to be seen.