Consumer Reports this week published the results of a new investigation, arguing that Kroger shoppers “have been unknowingly paying full price at checkout for scores of items – from meat and vegetables to juice, rice, and alcohol – that have been advertised as discounted or on sale.”
CR said that it “began checking grocery prices after learning that Kroger workers in Colorado who are currently in labor union negotiations with the company were alleging widespread errors on price labels – a problem they say has been going on for years and that Kroger is well aware of. The chain has also been called out by state inspectors for high rates of price tag errors and has defended itself against multiple class-action lawsuits alleging pricing errors, filed by Kroger customers in California, Illinois, Ohio, and Utah.”
Shoppers sent into the stores to document the alleged problems, CR writes, found “expired sales labels that led to overcharges on more than 150 grocery items, including Cheerios cereal, Mucinex cold and flu medication, Nescafé instant coffee, boneless beef, salmon, and dog food. One-third of the expired sales tags were out of date by at least 10 days, and the prices of five of the products were expired by at least 90 days. The average overcharge we found was $1.70 per item, or 18.4 percent. Our findings suggest the typical Kroger shopper ends up paying far more for what they think are discounted items – all during a time of inflation and economic uncertainty.”
CR notes that Kroger employees seem to “work quickly to correct pricing errors when they are pointed out. But for many other grocery shoppers, those pricing errors undoubtedly go unnoticed.”
A Kroger spokesperson said that the company is “committed to affordable and accurate pricing” and that “it regularly conducts price checks that review ‘millions of items weekly to ensure our shelf prices are accurate.’ Kroger said the sales price tag errors we cited were but a ‘few dozen examples across several years out of billions of customer transactions annually. While any error is unacceptable, the characterization of widespread pricing concerns is patently false,’ the company said.”
The entire Consumer Reports story can be read here.
The Guardian writes that this is not a new story, that Kroger’s pricing practices “have been flagged in lawsuits in multiple states. In Utah, Kroger paid a $2,500 settlement in 2019 to a shopper who accused the company of “falsely and deceptively charging full prices instead of the advertised promotional pricing” covered by a Fresh Values rewards program.
“Lawsuits currently being fought in California, Ohio and Illinois claim Kroger stores soaked large numbers of consumers at checkout. The California case alleges the company raised prices of products when shoppers used grocery coupons and the Ohio case claims it gouged pharmacy customers who have health insurance by inflating the price of generic drugs.
“The Illinois suit alleges that the lead plaintiff, Lisabeth Gainsberg, repeatedly encountered overcharges when she purchased on-sale items at a Kroger-owned Mariano’s store in suburban Chicago – including Slim Jim Sticks on sale for 92¢ each that were rung up at $1.79 per stick. When she pointed out these overcharges, the suit claims, store employees strung her along for half an hour or more before correcting the overcharges.”
KC’s View:
“Widespread,” it seems to me, is in the eye of the beholder.
If you’re not affected by the pricing issues, then this won’t seem like much of a problem. But if you are, then the issues are way too widespread for your tastes.
The story makes the point that these errors could constitute violations of both federal and state consumer protection laws, which means that the CR story could result in some serious regulatory investigations. (Certainly at the state level. I have no idea if the federal government is equipped or even inclined to investigate anyone at this point.) I suspect that this won’t be the end of the story.
If found to be guilty, it won’t be a good look for Kroger, which hasn’t been having an easy time of it lately: its proposed, self-described game-changing acquisition of Albertsons falls apart … it is dealing with all sorts of litigation as a result of that collapse … its longtime CEO departs under an ethical cloud, though the precise reasons are yet to be defined … both its CFO and Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer left the company for new (and presumably better) gigs last year … and now this set of accusations, building on a series of other, similar charges.
Talk about losing control of ther narrative.
The question is, who’s minding the store?
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