Dollar General agrees to New York price-accuracy safeguards

Dollar General has agreed to introduce price-accuracy safeguards at its more than 600 New York stores under a settlement of allegations that it repeatedly charged customers more than advertised prices.

The settlement follows inspections in which the New York attorney general’s office found checkout prices above those shown on shelf labels, signs, advertising circulars and the retailer’s mobile app. Dollar General neither admitted nor denied the authorities’ findings.

The office said one check of 114 items across multiple stores found overcharges on individual items as high as 39%.

What Dollar General must change

• Schedule staff to keep shelf-price tags updated.
• Hire independent auditors to conduct secret-shopper tests—checks carried out while posing as ordinary customers.
• Reformat receipts. State investigators found that confusing receipt formats made it difficult for customers to work out what they were paying.

Dollar General told the Guardian that it was committed to accurate shelf prices and that store teams were instructed, expected and empowered to correct pricing discrepancies on the spot. The company also said it already had measures to promote price accuracy and continually evaluated and changed them.

Alongside the store safeguards, the settlement requires Dollar General to donate $1.875 million in food and personal items to a regional food bank in upstate New York. That contribution is a donation of goods, not refunds paid to customers.