S.D. Pizza Huts Sued Over Energy Surcharge

A 50-cent surcharge tacked onto the price of pizza at the cash register has prompted a lawsuit against San Diego-area Pizza Huts by the district attorney.

The surcharge, for the restaurants’ cost of energy, wasn’t disclosed to customers beforehand, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Tricia Pummill of the district attorney’s consumer protection unit.

Her office filed suit Thursday against RLLW Inc., owner of 62 Pizza Hut outlets in the county, seeking a $1-million civil penalty.

“The customer expects to pay the advertised price for the goods, plus applicable sales tax,” said Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis. “The cost of the energy it takes to prepare the food should be included in the price.”

RLLW attorney Dan Ayala said the district attorney is overreacting to oversights by a few of the company’s 1,300 employees.

“We weren’t trying to cheat the public,” he said. “We had a policy that the surcharge must be fully disclosed on coupons and in advertising. Sometimes the tape falls off the sign. Sometimes customers knock the sign down.”

The company had halted the energy surcharge by the time the district attorney’s office contacted RLLW last summer after receiving complaints. Ayala said the levy was imposed over a several-month period in response to skyrocketing utility bills.

“What they were doing was disguising their price hike,” Pummill said. “It’s an important issue to consumers, because we all have a level of trust in businesses.” The suit alleges unfair business practices, saying competitors that included the charge in their prices were undercut.

The district attorney’s office said it received numerous complaints about several Pizza Huts over a six-month period beginning in late 2002.

Ayala said the problem was confined to one store and a “handful of instances.”

Both sides said an attempt since last summer to negotiate a settlement had failed.