Chipotle Settles Consumer Protection Case for Violating California’s Gift Card Redemption Law

Chipotle Gift Card - Final Judgment (PDF, 4 MB)

District Attorney Carla Rodriquez, along with the District Attorneys of Los Angeles, Shasta and Ventura counties, announced today that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., has entered into a Stipulated Judgment and will pay $246,000 in civil penalties, restitution, and costs to resolve allegations of violating California’s gift card redemption law.

The complaint, filed in Ventura County Superior Court, alleged that Chipotle unlawfully denied consumers the right to cash out gift cards with balances of less than $10. California Civil Code section 1749.5 provides that consumers holding gift cards valued under $10 may request a cash refund rather than spending the remaining balance.

“California law ensures that consumers receive the full benefit of the money available to them on gift cards that they have purchased or received as a gift” said District Attorney Rodriguez. “This settlement, and other similar settlements our office has obtained, hold retailers who offer gift cards to consumers accountable for providing a mechanism to allow consumers to recover the full amount of money they are entitled to when they use a gift card.”

Under the terms of the judgment, Chipotle is required to launch a dedicated website portal for consumers to request refunds for gift card balances under $10. The portal is available at https://www.chipotle.com/gift-card-cashback. Chipotle gift cards will be updated to include a message directing consumers to the new portal, and the company is prohibited from using any information collected through the site for marketing purposes.

Deputy District Attorney Caroline Fowler and Deputy District Attorney Katy Yount were the prosecutors for the Sonoma County District Attorney.

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