Dollar General has agreed to pay more than $800,000 for alleged violations of overcharging customers, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.
DATCP conducted price verifications at 238 Dollar General stores in Wisconsin between Jan. 30 and Feb. 10, 2023. DATCP Weights and Measures inspectors and municipal inspectors from Appleton, Green Bay, Menasha, Reedsburg, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee and South Milwaukee checked 7,344 products sold by Dollar General to ensure that prices charged at the register matched, or were lower than, prices posted on store shelves.
Among products inspected, DATCP said 662 items were more expensive than were listed on the store shelves. DATCP said that these items were on average 17 percent higher than listed. Wisconsin law requires that customers be refunded the difference between the listed price and the scanned price and customers must be informed with an easily accessible sign.
DATCP and Dollar General agreed to a settlement in which the discount retailer will pay $850,006.11 in civil forfeitures, surcharges, and fees. As part of the agreement, Dollar General does not admit to any violation of Wisconsin law.
This is similar to another settlement reached with Dollar General in 2018 when the company agreed to pay $10,586.50 for the same type of alleged violations.
Dollar General said it has invested more resources in price verification to prevent these issues from happening again.
