Last week, the Federal Trade Commission and 20 states filed a massive lawsuit (see complaint) against Dollar General alleging widespread and prolonged overcharging.
Indeed, the suit says that between 2023 and 2026, Dollar General received at least 29,265 complaints alleging that the company “did not honor marked price.” The complaints came from all 48 states in which the company has stores.
Dollar General and its nearly 30,000 stores has a long history of run-ins with state inspectors. Between 2019 and 2026, they settled with six state AGs and paid over $6-million in penalties. Simply put, “Dollar General continues to advertise one price while charging a higher price at checkout.”
The unusual aspect of this case is that the company’s overcharges are not simply the result of outdated shelf price labels not matching current prices in their checkout system, but also an allegation that some advertised items in their print circular rang up at higher prices too.
*MOUSE PRINT:
In one complaint, the consumer said,
“the weekly flyer . . . has advertised five for $5 with 2 l[iter] sodas. When I got up to the register[,] they were charging me $2.95 a[]piece. I explained about the sale and their statement was this is what their prices are.”
In 2026, undercover investigators from the FTC also visited stores in four states and made test purchases and then compared the price on the shelf to what they were actually charged. According to the complaint:
*MOUSE PRINT:
Every single undercover purchase resulted in Dollar General charging more at the register than the price advertised for multiple products:
During a January 16, 2026 undercover purchase at a Dollar General store in Cleveland, Ohio, 13 out of 58 items rang up with a price different than the price listed on a product label or shelf (an error rate of 22.4%). Of the 13 price inaccuracies, 5 were undercharges and 8 were overcharges, resulting in a net overcharge of $3.25.
In multiple instances, consumers who pointed out overcharges were brushed off and told they can either buy the item at the price on the register, or not buy it at all.
A third way that the company allegedly overcharged shoppers was by not honoring prices advertised on its website or smartphone app. Consumers have complained they clipped $5 off digital coupons in the app, but they were not honored at the checkout, or that an item was advertised online for a certain price, but they were charged more in the store. One consumer who visited 15+ stores was repeatedly told by employees they cannot override the price shown on the cash register.
In repeated state inspections, Dollar General often did not do well. For example, between 2023 and 2026, Dollar General failed 144 pricing audits and was fined over $175,000 and that was just in the state of Louisiana.
The lawsuit alleges widespread misrepresentation of product prices, overcharging, and deceptive trade practices. The FTC and the AGs seek monetary penalties, restitution, and an injunction to prevent similar overcharging in the future.
Dollar General issued a statement after the case was filed, in part saying:
Our goal is 100% accuracy between shelf and register prices in every store. …[but] occasional price discrepancies can occur. When that happens, our store teams are instructed, empowered, and expected to make things right for the customer.
The FTC staff also demanded a monetary amount that was untethered to – and orders of magnitude larger than – any realistic assessment of amounts attributable to pricing discrepancies. [We] offered an alternative, and in our view, more reasonable, manner of calculating potential settlement ranges. [R]ather than responding to our monetary counteroffer and allowing the negotiating process to continue, the FTC filed this lawsuit…
More like Dollars General, amirite??? The should be demoted to Dollar Corporal
The closest store to us is a Dollar General, so we do find ourselves there occasionally. I believe ours is on the nicer end and a bit more well organized than most I’ve seen. Having experienced the stores frequently, it definitely doesn’t surprise me that their pricing is all over the place.
They obviously need to do a better job and I’m glad they’re cracking down on it.
The only thing I’d add is, it would actually surprise me to find out this is malicious, I’m more inclined to believe it’s just good old incompetence.
I stopped shopping at Dollar General after repeated instances of sale items in their ads not being available anytime during the sale period…and not because they had sold out. After this happened multiple times, I wrote DG management to express my displeasure, but never received a reply.
I find that the Dollar General “experience” varies greatly from store to store and the nicer the area is the better the store is run. I think Joel nailed it, it’s not a corporate get rich scheme, it ‘s just a locations managers incompetence, or more likely workers who don’t change the shelf tags because they feel they are over-worked/under-paid, or just plain lazy.
Their ads clearly state “buy x number of items for x $, or x $ each” and the each price is always higher so I take that complaint with a grain of salt.
Whatever store you shop in, always check your receipt and if you see a mistake return the item. Constant mistakes? Report the store and shop elsewhere. (I had lots of Kmart issues back in the day, and where are they now?)