State Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced today (Oct. 27) that he is suing Dollar General for inflating prices without telling customers.
Jackson announced at a press conference that he is joining multiple other states and the Federal trace Commission (FTC) in the wide-ranging lawsuit.
Jackson said the company is raising prices for many of products without updating the sticker price on shelves, so customers unknowingly paid more at the register.
“We’re suing Dollar General because they’re ripping people off, and they know it,” Jackson said in a press release. “People should be able to trust that the price they see on the shelves is the price they’ll pay. But Dollar General has been breaking that trust. They’ve failed state inspections and been told over and over to fix these mistakes. They haven’t, so we’ll see them in court.”
North Carolina has the second-highest number of Dollar General stores in the country: over 1,100 stores, the equivalent of at least one in nearly every town. In many places in rural North Carolina, they’re the only local option for basic goods, food, and supplies.
While this lawsuit is pending, here’s what shoppers can do: Check your receipt before you leave the store. If you were charged more than the shelf price, ask the store to correct it. You can file a complaint with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Standards Division via the online complaint form or call 984-236-4751.
“Dollar General is well aware of the overcharging issue at its stores and has had ample opportunities to make sure that its sticker prices match its checkout prices<’ Jackson said. “Its stores have failed thousands of state pricing audits and have received almost 30,000 complaints about stores not honoring the listed price.”
Last week, the state Dept. of Agriculture fined 10 Dollar General locations for overcharging customers beyond the listed price. The 10 stores are in Hertford, Pamlico, Carteret, Transylvania, Craven, Onslow, Buncombe, and Scotland counties. In addition, Dollar General stores have failed audits in previous years in Franklin, Alamance, Transylvania, Montgomery, Brunswick, Hyde, Lee, and Moore counties.
Agriculture and Consume Services inspectors regularly conduct checks to ensure that sticker prices match prices at the register. One Dollar General in Swannanoa had overcharged for 32 out of nearly 300 items inspected. In 28 inspections carried out in 10 Dollar General stores throughout the state in two years, price inspectors found nearly 400 pricing inaccuracies.
“Often, the shoppers paying these overcharges are those already living paycheck to paycheck,” Jackson said, “and Dollar General knows this. Dollar General’s CEO has described the store’s core customers as those who ‘run out of money before the month runs out’.”
Dollar General operates more than 1,150 stores in North Carolina. Dollar General’s business, as its CEO describes it, is “uniquely positioned to serve underserved customers in rural communities.” To that end, its stores and locations are particularly intertwined with those communities. Approximately 80 percent of Dollar General stores throughout the country are located in towns of 20,000 or fewer people.
The Federal Trade Commission and multiple states allege these practices violate the FTC Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and state consumer protection laws.
Jackson is joined in filing the complaint by the FTC and the Attorneys General of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.
