Dollar General sued by Ohio attorney general after multiple pricing complaints
Dave Yost accused Dollar General of deceptively pricing items and bait advertising
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing Dollar General over alleged violations of the state’s Consumer Sales Practice Act, according to a Tuesday press release from his office.
In the lawsuit filed in Butler County’s Common Pleas Court, the attorney general’s office alleged Dollar General engaged in deceptive pricing by "representing that a specific price advantage exists, if it does not" and bait advertising by "making offers of sales of goods when such offers are not a bona fide effort to sell such a good." Some Dollar General stores in the state charged higher checkout prices for items than the ones advertised on shelves, Yost claimed.
Merchandise is displayed at the entrance to a Dollar General store near Bloomsburg. Dollar General has more than 18,000 locations in 47 states. (Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Everything we buy these days costs more — Ohioans can ill-afford businesses that draw people in with the promise of low prices only to deceive them at the checkout counter," Yost said in a statement. "This seems like a company trying to make an extra buck and hoping no one will notice. We’ve not only noticed but are taking action to stop it."
In addition to monetary damages for impacted consumers and $25,000 fines per violation, the lawsuit asks for a permanent injunction barring Dollar General from allegedly violating the state consumer protection law in the future.
DOLLAR GENERAL PRICE AUDIT FINDS DOUBLE FIGURE ERROR RATES UP TO 88%
In the release, Yost’s office noted a recent Butler County price audit that they said found "error rates" as high as 88% during checks of 20 Dollar General stores. Stores are only allowed to have 2% error rates, according to the release.
A customer shops at a Dollar General store on March 17, 2022 in Vallejo, California. Dollar General announced fourth quarter earnings of $2.57 per share, just beating analyst expectations of $2.56 per share. The retailer had net income of $597.4 mill (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Bethlehem, NC, USA-June 5, 2019: A local Dollar General store and street sign, in the community of Bethlehem, NC. (iStock)
A dozen pricing complaints were also filed against Dollar General stores in eight other Ohio counties between March 2021 and August of this year, according to the attorney general’s office.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DG | DOLLAR GENERAL CORP. | 77.79 | +0.52 | +0.67% |
FOX Business reached out to Dollar General for comment.
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