Family Dollar will pay $63 million to resolve allegations it charged customers more at the register than advertised prices, with $40 million for refunds and $20 million for discounts.
Family Dollar has agreed to pay $63 million to resolve allegations that it overcharged customers by charging more at the register than the prices displayed on store shelves, price tags, and in advertisements, according to the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states.
The proposed order requires Family Dollar to:
The complaint was filed by the Federal Trade Commission alongside Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
"When money is tight, every dollar matters. Utah families shouldn't have to worry that the price at checkout will be higher than the price they saw on the shelf. This settlement puts money back in consumers' pockets and helps ensure shoppers get the prices they were promised," Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in a release.
"The FTC is committed to ensuring price transparency and fairness so consumers can make informed choices," said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Today’s order will ensure Family Dollar stops deceiving consumers about its prices and returns money to consumers harmed by these practices."
Family Dollar said Friday it will work with the FTC and state agencies to meet the settlement's requirements and provide clear information to customers about how the settlement could impact them.
"We take our responsibility to deliver a positive shopping experience seriously," Family Dollar spokeswoman Janella Escobar said in a statement. "We remain focused on strengthening pricing accuracy across our stores and maintaining our customers’ trust."
Family Dollar operates more than 7,000 stores across 48 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., according to CBS News. Spectrum News 1 reports the company has more than 8,000 U.S. discount stores and reported revenue of $13 billion in its most recent fiscal year, according to a company statement. The sources disagree on the store count, so that detail is left out.
The settlement must still be approved by a judge, according to Spectrum News 1.
The case alleges that thousands of Family Dollar stores used deceptive pricing practices for years, and that the company failed to fix the problem despite thousands of failed inspections, hundreds of consumer complaints and multiple enforcement actions. The FTC and 20 states also sued Dollar General last month over similar allegations, and that litigation is ongoing.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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