Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined the Federal Trade Commission and 19 other states in a lawsuit against Dollar General Corporation for costing people millions of dollars by routinely charging customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, price tags and advertisements.
Iowa and 19 state partners joined the FTC in filing a complaint against Dollar General for repeatedly mislabeling prices, overcharging customers and failing to correct the issue despite extensive corporate knowledge of the problem. The states joining the FTC lawsuit include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
“When an Iowan goes into Dollar General, they should be able to trust they are paying the advertised price,” said Attorney General Brenna Bird. “It’s completely unacceptable that Dollar General has made millions by charging more at the register than the prices they have marked on the shelf. I’ve joined this lawsuit to once again hold a big company accountable to Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act and get Iowans some relief.”
According to the complaint:
- Thousands of Dollar General stores have taken advantage of vulnerable shoppers by extracting millions of dollars in unlawful overcharges with insufficient safeguards to prevent the practice.
- Dollar General received tens of thousands of complaints from consumers across the country who say the company did not honor the advertised price, demonstrating widespread consumer harm and confirming that customers nationwide have been charged more than the advertised price.
- Dollar General knows that it harms customers by charging more at the register than the prices it advertises, as reflected by the numerous complaints it has received.
Despite being made aware of the problem, Dollar General has failed to implement policies and practices to adequately address the problem, according to the complaint.
The FTC and states allege these practices violate the FTC Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act.
