Shoppers hunting for bargains at Dollar General may want to start checking their receipts.
The discount chain is facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 20 states alleging that some of the company’s stores routinely charged customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, tags and advertisements.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Tennessee on Monday, alleges the practice has gone on for years and has cost consumers millions of dollars.
That is a particularly awkward accusation for a retailer whose whole pitch is that every dollar should stretch a little further.
Dollar General operates more than 21,000 stores nationwide and counts low- and fixed-income shoppers among the customers who rely most heavily on its advertised prices.
According to the FTC and states, the problem was not a few rogue stickers gone astray but a widespread pricing practice that repeatedly left shoppers paying more than expected.
The complaint says Dollar General received tens of thousands of consumer complaints about prices ringing up higher than advertised.
It also points to failed state inspections and undercover shopping trips conducted by FTC investigators.
Dollar General is facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and 20 states, which accuse it of routinely charging customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, tags and advertisements
In those undercover checks, investigators allegedly found products scanning for more than the prices shown in stores.
The lawsuit further claims the company knew about the discrepancies but failed to put adequate safeguards in place to stop them.
The FTC says Dollar General’s alleged conduct amounts to deceptive pricing and violates federal and state consumer-protection laws.
The agency is seeking monetary relief and other remedies, although the case has yet to be decided by a court.
The complaint was authorized by a 2-0 vote of the FTC and was filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Twenty states joined the action, including California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina and Tennessee.
The allegations are especially uncomfortable for Dollar General because the chain has already faced pricing enforcement in several states.
Since 2019, the company has paid $6 million in settlements with six states over inaccurate pricing, according to the complaint.
The latest lawsuit alleges that those previous run-ins did not put an end to the problem.
Dollar General operates more than 21,000 stores nationwide and counts low- and fixed-income shoppers among the customers who rely most heavily on its advertised prices
According to the FTC and states, the problem was not a few rogue stickers gone astray but a widespread pricing mess that repeatedly left shoppers paying more than expected
And the numbers in the complaint make clear why regulators are taking the issue seriously, with the FTC alleging that tens of thousands of complaints showed the problem was affecting shoppers across the country.
The agency says Dollar General effectively shifted the burden of catching pricing errors onto customers who may not have the time or money to scrutinize every item at checkout.
That frustration was echoed online, where one Reddit user complained that shoppers have to examine everything carefully to ensure an item labeled with a low price does not suddenly ring up for twice as much.
Another commenter said the same thing had happened to them at Kroger, while others described photographing shelf prices before reaching the register.
One Reddit commenter summed up the irritation more bluntly, saying retailers can make refunds easy once an error is caught but may never fix the underlying computer-system price.
There was also plenty of consumer folklore about price-error laws, with commenters sharing examples of rules that can entitle shoppers to refunds, discounts or even free products depending on the state.
Those rules vary by location, however, and a pricing dispute at one store does not automatically mean a shopper is entitled to a freebie everywhere.
The FTC’s complaint also contains redacted sections concerning what Dollar General allegedly knew about its pricing practices, leaving some details out of public view for now.
Dollar General did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment on the allegations.
