Dollar General and Walmart are again under fire to overload customers
Family Dollar is also one of the retailers brought a fine of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Once again, Reduced prices retailers Faced with a backlash for surfing customers. This time, Walmart, Dollar General and Family Dollar take up the heat, with price scanner errors, which leads to buyers by paying too much in the register. The three retailers have already known the block before with regard to overload, but this time, they accumulate substantial civil penalties. Read the rest to find out more about this current problem and how retailers are punished.
Read this then: Walmart is under fire for allegedly double charging customers .
Price scanner errors are a persistent problem.
The latest price differences were cited by the Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA & CS) of North Caroline, which leads " Periodic and unexpected inspections "Price scanners at different retailers.
During inspections, prices on the shelves are compared to those of the register. If stores have an error rate greater than 2%, which leads to overcharging, store management is informed and a "more intensive" monitoring is planned. Fines are applied if stores fail to follow up and are reintegrated every 60 days until the error rate is less than 2%. The NCDA & CS also records sub-charges, but these do not count against retailers.
"Our Division of Standards continues to see about a quarter of all the stranded price scanning inspections and many stores fail in several inspections", commissioner for agriculture Steve Troxler said in a press release of January 30 announcing the last offenders.
"Overloads cost consumers, so we remain vigilant in store inspection to protect consumers. Do not forget that it is always a good practice to check your receipt as well as the price on the shelf to ensure you Whether you pay the correct amount and alert managers if the prices do not correspond, "he concluded.
Dollar General was the largest offender.
According to the press release of January 30 NCDA & CS, 52 stores in 33 counties of North Carolina were sentenced to a fine in the fourth quarter of 2022. Of these stores, almost half were general locations in dollars.
In total, Dollar General paid about $ 136,795 after the price scanner errors were reported to 23 locations, with a single store in Moore on the hook for $ 22,995. According to the press release, the store, which is on the American motorway 1, has failed six inspections since November 2021.
The family dollar was closely, while 15 stores paid fines for overcharging. However, Family Dollar - who belongs to Dollar Tree - paid even more than Dollar General. In total, the retailer touched about $ 155,000, with fines ranging from $ 1,785 to $ 18,740.
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Walmart also sang.
Price scanner errors have also been detected in six Walmart stores in North Caroline, according to the press release NCDA & CS, with fines amounting to a total of $ 22,830. A market in the Walmart district, which is the smaller store format of the retailer, has engaged the largest fine of $ 12,000. Before going in October 2022, the store had failed three NCDA & CS follow -up inspections.
Dollar General, Family Dollar and Walmart were not the only retailers who paid. Three target stores, two Circle K convenience stores, one 7-Eleven, a Minuteman Food Mart and the independent grocery store Bryson City Iga were also reported and sentenced to a fine. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
The overload is widespread.
For its part, the NCDA & CS is consistent with its inspections. The agency cited problems at 70 stores in December 2022 and 61 stores in August 2022.
But in general, the reports of large surfing retailers are not new - and they are certainly not limited to North Carolina. The state of Ohio leads a charge against the chains of Dollar stores, prosecute Against the general dollar and the family dollar to invoice customers more in the register than the price indicated on the shelf. Last week, Dollar General stores temporarily Closed for re-tag Their prices for the shelves, but the officials said that they do not retreat.
"Ohio dollar general stores are to extinguish To reinstall all their shelf prices - exact the reason why we continued them: "Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost Tweeted on January 27. "Happy to see this first step, but we will emphasize the court order to enforce the continuous compliance with the laws on the equity of the Ohio market."
Walmart also faced a backlash last month in Ohio. On January 13, a collective appeal for fraud was filed against the retailer , with Kevin Adelstein , from Moreland Hills, Ohio, alleging that the prices of products are different in stores and online. In December 2022, Walmart also admitted that he had accidentally billed to certain customers twice "due to a problem with the payment processor Used in credit card and debit transactions.