Dollar General Accused Of Overcharging Customers According To Recent Class Action Lawsuit
The discount retail chain, Dollar General, has recently been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that they overcharge customers and that the prices they charge are advertised to be much lower than they actually are. In other words, they’re accused of scamming customers at the register. According to the allegations, Dollar General frequently tags merchandise at lower prices than what it rings up at the register.
The case was brought on behalf of Ohio plaintiffs who are suing the retail giant. Among the allegations leveled at Dollar General, plaintiffs say that the company is aware of the problem and that they’ve been aware of it for quite some time.
This practice essentially amounts to false advertising. According to the pleadings, the practice has financially harmed hundreds of thousands of consumers. This is a clear violation of the Ohio Consumer Practices Act. According to the plaintiffs, they have “thousands of pages” of public records that show the violations.
The plaintiffs say that part of the case has to do with “weights and measures standards” which are in place to prevent stores from undercutting their customers and ensuring that products sold are the proper size and weight claimed on the packaging. According to the lawsuit, Dollar General regularly fails state and federal weights and measures tests at an average of 20 percent. But the main contention in the lawsuit is simply that Dollar General’s price tags aren’t the price that customers actually pay. Unsurprisingly, they generally pay more at the register than is advertised on the item.
Dollar General under scrutiny for business practices
This is not the first time that Dollar General has been under scrutiny for shady business practices. In 2019, the New York State Attorney General charged the company a $1.2 million fine for selling expired or “obsolete” products. In addition to the fine, the company was required to reform its business practices. The fines were the result of a state investigation into the company in which, over a three year period, undercover state investigators routinely found that Dollar General sold products that were beyond their expiration dates. This included over-the-counter drugs.
In addition, Dollar General routinely failed inspections in Ohio. In one county, authorities visited 14 stores and all of them failed their inspections. Inspectors found numerous violations including price tags that were two years old. In many cases items were priced anywhere from 5 cents cheaper to over a dollar more expensive when they were rung up at the register. Ohio Attorney General, David Yost initiated a lawsuit in 2022 and recently settled it for over a million dollars, with $750,000 going to food banks and other hunger relief organizations.
Talk to an Ohio Consumer Fraud Attorney Today
Kohl & Cook Law Firm, LLC represents the interests of Ohio residents who have been defrauded by unscrupulous businesses. Call our Columbus consumer law attorneys today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing your case right away.
Source:
prospect.org/justice/2024-01-19-dollar-general-overcharges-customers-lawsuit/
