NEW YORK -- The Federal Trade Commission has sued the bargain chain Dollar General for what it characterized as “long-running deceptive pricing practices” by charging customers more once they reach the register than the prices that are displayed on shelves and in advertisements.

Twenty states joined in the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. It said that Dollar General failed to correct the issue despite what it said was “extensive corporate knowledge of the problem.”

“Dollar General has betrayed the trust of millions of American consumers and imposed significant financial harm on communities and consumers who are already struggling to make their paychecks last,” wrote Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, did not immediately return a request for comment from The Associated Press.

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[–] 20 points 1 week ago (6 children)

They are anti-competitive and actively work to make sure they’re the only option in those areas. It’s part of their business plan.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    If anything they're filling in the gaps walmart made for them.

    Walmart opens and closes all the small mom and pop grocery stores for miles, we're talking up to an hour drive away. Everyone that can drive an hour does because it's cheaper. So stores close in a wide radius around a new Walmart.

    Now you have these poorly connected rural areas that no longer have stores. The few people that can't drive the hour to the Walmart are pretty throughly fucked.

    Usually the only thing left are gas stations. They sell a few essentials, but they are prohibitively expensive. That's where Dollar General steps in. They still out-compete any small buisness on prices, but they are usually more than Walmart. However they are priced close enough to make the drive to a walmart less practical for those that can. For those that can't drive that distance they become their only source of groceries

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago

    Oh for sure, and then those areas get devastated even more when the Walmarts close because they decided they don’t do enough business.

    There was enough there to run everyone else out but once that’s done Walmart might just shutdown and move on leaving people in those areas in the lurch.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    Don't get out in the country much? There are DGs in places that no mom and pop could survive. Of course they've stomped thousands of such stores out of business, but there are plenty of DGs down here where there was nothing before.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (2 children)

    Don't get out in the country much?

    I do. That’s how I’m familiar with Dollar General since they target a lot more rural, whereas Dollar Tree seems to go after low income irban more often.

    Of course they've stomped thousands of such stores out of business, but there are plenty of DGs down here where there was nothing before.

    And there won’t be, because they are anti-competitive and actively work to make sure that won’t happen.

    Thanks for replying though, I remember your username and that I opted not to block you the last time you commented some nonsense in reply to me. Fixing that now.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago*

    Jeeze dude, they were middling rude but you really love the "I'm blocking you" line. Blocking people to ensure you get the last word doesn't actually work, y'know? It's the last word for you but they can still... respond, and everyone else can still see that they're getting the last word in. It's pretty self-defeating.

    edit: lmao oh right you blocked me at one point too, nvm.

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