Utah has joined with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 19 other states are suing Dollar General Corp., alleging the retailer charges customers more at the register than the prices on its shelves, price tags and ads.
The FTC and the states filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on Oct. 22. According to the complaint, Dollar General has mislabeled prices and overcharged consumers for years, and has not fixed the problem despite knowing about it.
“A price tag is a promise. The complaint alleges Dollar General broke that promise thousands of times, leaving consumers to pay more than they were told at the shelf,” said Attorney General Derek Brown in a release from the Utah Department of Commerce. “Utah is standing up for shoppers and sending a clear message: Businesses cannot advertise one price and charge another.”
The complaint alleges that:
• Thousands of Dollar General stores have overcharged shoppers, collecting millions of dollars in unlawful overcharges, and the company lacks adequate safeguards to prevent it.
• Dollar General has received tens of thousands of complaints from consumers nationwide who say the company did not honor the advertised price.
“The division recognizes that pricing mistakes can happen and works with well-meaning businesses that retract and correct those errors. This case is not about mistakes; it’s about repeated violations of consumers’ trust,” said Daniel Larsen, interim director of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection. “The complaint alleges Dollar General knew it had a widespread problem and failed to fix it. We are holding it accountable for those alleged deceptive practices.”
The FTC and the states allege these practices violate the FTC Act, which bans unfair or deceptive business practices; the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which prohibits the use of false or fraudulent statements to obtain a customer’s financial information; and the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act, which bars deceptive acts and practices in connection with consumer transactions. The complaint asks the court to permanently enjoin Dollar General’s alleged violations of state and federal consumer protection laws; award consumer restitution, disgorgement, forfeiture, civil fines, penalties and other monetary relief; and order such other relief as the court determines is just and proper. The allegations in the complaint have not been proven in court.
Joining Utah and the FTC are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wisconsin.