$1.2M Price-Gouging Settlement Reached With Dollar General: NJ AG

NEW JERSEY — Dollar General has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve a settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General's Office over alleged price-gouging, after a state investigation found more than 2,000 instances where items' prices were higher at the register than on the shelves.

The Division of Consumer Affairs claimed that Dollar General violated the state's Consumer Fraud Act and Weights and Measures act by selling "a variety of merchandise" that scanned for a higher price than was posted on the shelves and displays.

At the register, customers were charged up to $5.95 more than the item's displayed price, said AG Matthew J. Platkin's office.

The Office of Weights and Measures did pricing inspections at 58 Dollar General stores in November 2022 and February 2023, and found more than 2,000 instances " in which the price charged at the register for a particular product was higher than the posted price," Platkin's office said.

The settlement agreement includes a $1.18 million civil penalty and is the largest that the state Office of Weights and Measures has ever obtained, the AG said.

This was not the first time the state had investigated the Tennessee-based company for price gouging, The OWM had already assessed $43,678 in fines against Dollar General for pricing violations from 2018 to 2022, Platkin said.

Cari Fais, acting director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs, said Dollar General will now be held accountable for overcharging customers "time and time again."

“New Jersey is committed to ensuring transparency and fairness in its marketplace," Fais said. "Today we hold Dollar General accountable for disregarding our consumer protection laws and unlawfully boosting its profits at the expense of consumers who can least afford it.”

Dollar General will also be required to make changes to its business practices to prevent future violations, officials added.

“New Jersey, under the leadership of Governor Murphy, has demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting consumers from unfair practices that disproportionately burden low- and moderate-income New Jerseyans,” said Platkin. “This settlement advances those efforts by imposing a significant civil penalty against a national retailer for engaging in pricing practices that deceived and defrauded New Jersey residents.”