Regulators allege the discount retailer collected millions by charging customers more than advertised prices
By Midtown Times Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Midtown Times) — The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states have filed a lawsuit against Dollar General, alleging that the discount retailer repeatedly charged customers higher prices at checkout than those displayed on shelves, product labels and advertisements.
The complaint claims the pricing discrepancies continued for years at thousands of locations, generating millions of dollars in improper overcharges. Dollar General operates more than 21,000 stores nationwide, frequently serving rural and lower-income communities with limited shopping alternatives.
Regulators allege that Dollar General received tens of thousands of customer complaints but failed to implement sufficient protections to correct the problem. The lawsuit says inaccurate pricing affected millions of purchases and made it difficult for consumers on limited budgets to manage household expenses.
The coalition includes Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where Dollar General is headquartered. It seeks a permanent injunction, consumer compensation, civil penalties and other financial relief. The allegations have not been proven in court.
Dollar General denied deliberately disregarding customers’ financial interests. The company said its objective is to maintain complete accuracy between shelf and register prices, while acknowledging that occasional discrepancies can occur.
According to the retailer, employees are authorized to correct pricing errors and honor appropriate prices when problems are discovered. Dollar General also said it has strengthened its price-verification procedures in recent years.
The company reported producing more than 200,000 documents and approximately 350 gigabytes of data after learning about the FTC investigation in February. It criticized the agency’s proposed financial demands as excessive and said it had attempted to negotiate a resolution before the lawsuit was filed.
Dollar General said it intends to defend itself vigorously while remaining open to discussions with regulators.
The case remains pending, and a federal court will determine whether the retailer violated federal and state consumer-protection laws.
