A recent Consumer Reports (CR) investigation found that more than half of the stores tested by shoppers at a major grocery chain had overcharged for sale items.
The report published Wednesday alleges Kroger shoppers have been unknowingly paying full price at checkout for items that were advertised as discounted or on sale.
CR said it began a monthlong investigation “to document the size and breadth of the problem.” The nonprofit organization recruited people to shop at 26 Kroger and Kroger-owned stores in 14 states and the District of Columbia in March, April and May.
“The shoppers found expired sales labels that led to overcharges on more than 150 grocery items, including Cheerios cereal, Mucinex cold and flu medication, Nescafé instant coffee, boneless beef, salmon, and dog food,” the report stated.
The investigation also found that roughly one-third of the sales tags were out of date by at least 10 days, and some had passed their expiration date months ago. CR reported that the average overcharge was $1.70 per item.
“People should pay the price that is being advertised, that’s the law,” Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky told CR. “The issue here is that shoppers can’t rely on the shelf price being accurate, and that’s a big problem.”
The shoppers found that Kroger employees worked quickly to correct pricing errors once they were pointed out, but CR says that for many shoppers, those mistakes “undoubtedly go unnoticed.”
A Kroger representative responded to the findings, saying that the company regularly conducts checks to ensure prices are accurate. and that CR cited a “few dozen examples across several years out of billions of customer transactions annually.”
The company also said, “While any error is unacceptable, the characterization of widespread pricing concerns is patently false.”
Other retailers, including Walmart and Vons, have been hit with similar overcharging allegations recently, and Albertsons agreed to pay $4 million in October to settle a lawsuit accusing the California chain of selling items for more than its lowest advertised price.
Shoppers can take measures to make sure they aren’t overcharged by checking receipts to make sure they match the sales price and by looking at the expiration dates on the sales tags.
