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Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

(www.theguardian.com)
510 points bookofjoe | 1 comments | 07 Dec 25 14:37 UTC | HN request time: 0.202s | source
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cs702 ◴[07 Dec 25 23:15 UTC] No.46186364[source]▶
> Red Baron frozen pizzas, listed on the shelf at $5, rang up at $7.65. Bounty paper towels, shelf price $10.99, rang up at $15.50. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Stouffer’s frozen meatloaf, Sprite and Pepsi, ibuprofen, Klondike Minis – shoppers were overpaying for all of them. Pedigree puppy food, listed at $12.25, rang up at $14.75.

Surely, now that this made the news, there will be an investigation into the fraudulent behavior of Dollar General and Family Dollar.

Left unsaid is that both Dollar General and Family Dollar would become unprofitable if they stop tricking customers. (Both companies typically earn only 3-4% on sales.)

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jeltz ◴[07 Dec 25 23:31 UTC] No.46186504[source]▶
It was investigated, the issue is that the fines are smaller than the profit. I would personally want to see things like this considered fraud and that it can result in prison sentences for executives and other people invovled in the decision making.
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rtp4me ◴[08 Dec 25 02:48 UTC] No.46187763[source]▶
You want prison sentences for execs if you were charged $1.50 for a can of corn instead of $1.45? Surely you can't be serious.
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1. rsynnott ◴[08 Dec 25 12:10 UTC] No.46191330[source]▶
If it’s being done systematically, and, er, well, it certainly sounds like there’s a case to be answered there, then, well, why not, after a proper trial?

Like, imagine if your bank randomly took a few percent extra off each transaction. Someone would get in a lot of trouble for that, and at a certain point “we’re not doing fraud, we’re just staggeringly incompetent” won’t cut it.