Dollar General sued for overcharging customers in Missouri

Dollar General is being sued for unfair and deceptive pricing practices in the state of Missouri, according to reporting by local news group KSDK.

The lawsuit has been jointly filed by the Missouri Attorney General and the Missouri Department of Agriculture. It accuses the discount grocer of overcharging customers on items like candles, toilet paper, lip balm, and lemonade, and the suit also claims the practice was also done at the register where products were scanned at a higher price than what was listed on the shelves.

“Dollar General is routinely overcharging Missouri consumers for everyday staples and the necessities of life,” said the lawsuit. “Worse still, consumers are being deceived as to the prices they are actually paying for these items.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and the Department of Agriculture launched an investigation involving 147 Dollar General stores, and 92 failed the inspection. The inspection involved pulling 50 random products and the listed price and point-of-sale scanned price were compared.

The stores could not have more than two violations, and several locations failed the inspection, according to KSDK. The average overcharge was $2.71 on over 5,000 products, and price discrepancies were up to $6.50 per item.

Related:Dollar General plans to fully automate South Carolina distribution center

“Prices are at an all-time high,” said Bailey in a statement. “The last thing Missourians need is to feel the brunt of Dollar General’s scheme. We will move forward undeterred in our fight to obtain full restitution for all affected.”

"Dollar General is committed to providing customers with accurate prices on items purchased in our stores, and we are disappointed any time we fail to deliver on this commitment," Dollar General said in a statement. "When a pricing discrepancy is identified, our store teams are empowered to correct the matter on the spot for our customers. We typically do not comment on pending litigation."