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Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

theguardian.com

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Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#731

Post by VerifiedReports »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #277
collingreen wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, the "it's actually good for customers" response is "they should have paid more"? I love it.

Nobody in this comment chain was saying it was good for the customers. The GP was saying that they clear out room for new businesses, and if brick-and-mortar-fabric-superstore were still a viable model someone would be doing it.

The "clear out room for new business" argument is as absurd as it gets. If you think the landscape is packed to capacity with brick-&-mortar stores to the point that it needs "room for new business," you don't live in the USA.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#732

Post by valbaca »

> Dollar General said it was “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”. In one court case in Ohio, Dollar General’s lawyers argued that “it is virtually impossible for a retailer to match shelf pricing and scanned pricing 100% of the time for all items. Perfection in this regard is neither plausible nor expected under the law.”

LOVE LOVE putting what their PR says right next to what their lawyers say in court.

We absolutely need this more in this kind of reporting of late-stage capitalism.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#733

Post by valbaca »

parpfish wrote: post #44

an interesting contrast that i think about a lot: - in rural america, there are dollar stores everywhere that overcharge for small items. people treat them as a necessary evil and begrudgingly shop there. - in nyc, there are corner bodegas everywhere that overcharge for small items. they are generally seen as beloved neighborhood institutions. so... what's the difference? corporate owned vs family owned? length of ti…

> what's the difference?

Did you read the article? Charging what's actually on the price tag is the first thing that's the difference.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#734

Post by valbaca »

LanceH wrote: post #346

Lots and lots of articles written about 23% of 300 items -- at one store? Every store? What's the actual extent of the problem? There have been way too many articles and videos at this point to keep pointing at the same small data set. I've personally never experienced an overcharge, and at 1 in 5, it should have happened by now. Is this a one store thing, or a regional thing, or should I just put those thoughts on h…

You didn't read far enough:

> Dollar General stores have failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states since January 2022, a Guardian review found. Family Dollar stores have failed more than 2,100 price inspections in 20 states over the same time span, the review found.

> Among these thousands of failed inspections, some of the biggest flops include a 76% error rate in October 2022 at a Dollar General in Hamilton, Ohio; a 68% error rate in February 2023 at a Family Dollar in Bound Brook, New Jersey; and a 58% error rate three months ago at a Family Dollar in Lorain, Ohio.

> Many of the stores that failed state or local government checks were repeat violators. A Family Dollar in Provo, Utah, flunked 28 inspections in a row – failures that included a 48% overcharge rate in May 2024 and a 12% overcharge rate in October 2025.

> The Guardian’s examination of inspection failures by the two chains was based on record requests to 45 states and more than 140 counties and cities in New York, Ohio and California, along with court documents and public databases.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#735

Post by fy20 »

jefftk wrote: post #372

> 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. This very rarely happens in MA, because when it does the store has to give you the item for $10 off, including if that makes it free. And they have to post a sign at the register explaining the law, which means when you're invoking it all you need to do is point at the sign. https://www.…

Right, as a UK tabloid I'm surprised they didn't mention that the UK has similar laws. If you are overcharged you can ask for a refund, and the store has to honour it:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-w...

In the 00s I worked for a supermarket that would always honour the price on the label if you pointed out an error (we'd then remove the label with the error).

We had teams that would regularly check all the labels to make sure they are not out of date. Nowadays many stores where I live now use e-paper displays that update automatically.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#736

Post by limagnolia »

antonymoose wrote: post #597
limagnolia wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have overall had good experiences with Dollar General, but mis-pricing items like this is completely unacceptable. This article is very damaging to their brand to me. Even though I haven't experienced it myself.

Keep in mind this happens in all industries to varying degrees and causes. I once worked as a cashier at “The Fresh Market” chain, a higher end, higher income store. We had this issue all day every day. I couldn’t go a shift without having to call over the manager for two or three price corrections. The root-cause was our incompetent stoner stock-boy would leave up discounted sale signs up for days and even weeks aft…

I understand that- the key is "varying degrees". This article documents several cases across multiple states that go well beyond reasonable. I've learned to be careful to look at the dates on sale tags.

Another thing many grocery chains do is list a price that is only for folks who sign up for the stores tracking program, rather than the price that folk who don't want to jump through whoops and sing the song and dance pay. (They put that price in the fine print).

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#737

Post by gwbas1c »

dylan604 wrote: post #704
gwbas1c wrote: post #698

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't want people stumbling into church drunk! (That being said, even though I think it's a silly rule, it just seems to exist to annoy alcoholics who can't plan ahead. I'm not an alcoholic, and I rarely consume alcohol before noon, so I just laugh at people who whine about this law.)

Was at the airport on a trip with friends with the flight leaving before noon. None of the bars could sell. We are not alcoholics, but we were on vacation. Well, we were trying to start the vacation but had to wait until leaving uptight red state

> Well, we were trying to start the vacation but had to wait until leaving uptight red state

I live in Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states, and we still have special laws about Alcohol on Sunday. According to Gemini, Logan airport can't start serving until 10 a.m. (Because in Massachusetts, we don't want you getting drunk on the way to your Unitarian or interfaith Sunday service after you get off of your red-eye flight.)

You can also try reading https://www.mass.gov/guides/working-on-sundays-and-holidays-... if you have the time.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#738

Post by cbdevidal »

account42 wrote: post #615
cbdevidal wrote: post #559

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony is even though Dollar Tree prices are honest because they all are the same $1.25 (excluding the new “More Choices” $3-5 items) they’re still ripping you off. I always shop on a per-unit basis e.g. dollars per pound or cents per ounce, since that’s how I actually eat food. I need a certain amount of calories and a certain quantity of food to survive, and the less I pay per unit, the lower overall cost. On a…

> I always shop on a per-unit basis e.g. dollars per pound or cents per ounce, since that’s how I actually eat food. For staples that's definitely sensible but surely there are also times where you need one-off items where any extra amount would just be waste?

Not usually but yes at times DT makes sense.

And yes there are times when some cannot always afford bigger quantities. But we’re not talking about 50 pound bags at Costco here; The price per pound for a ten pound bag of something at Walmart vs a six ouncer at DT is substantial.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#739

Post by IncreasePosts »

asdff wrote: post #511
IncreasePosts wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was no competition in many places dollar stores operate. They moved into those places specifically because they were underserved by larger retailers.

Ehh I disagree. "No competition" yet I bet every home in the area still had groceries in the kitchen before the dollar general opened.

Sure. Because they were driving 25 minutes each way to the nearest Walmart to do their shopping, not 5 minutes down the street.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#740

Post by sejje »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #208
antonymoose wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ll bite… I live in a rural area with a Dollar General about a half mile from my neighborhood. For staples, it’s honestly fine. You want a 6 pack and some hot dog buns because you missed it in the Wal-Mart run the other day (15 miles away), it’s great! You’re not getting fleeced and if you are, the gas savings alone more than make up for it (0.65 per mile per the IRS.) For folks who depend on the local DG for, idk,…

Being in a shopping rich area, I have some luxury of choosing what I get where. DG is a good option for a small list of items, about ½% of my shopping. But it'd be awful if my best shopping option was 15mi away.

My best shopping option is about 50mi away.

It's worth it, because my only neighbor is about 1/4 mile away, and he's the most reliable person I've ever met.

I don't lock my doors, the keys are in all my trucks.

We do have thieves, who are small and furry, and make off with my figs and tomatoes.

I don't miss your shopping rich area. It's a chore I suffer through.

Anyway, DG can save me about an hour of driving vs Walmart or the normal grocery.

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