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Dollar General is sued by the FTC and 20 states for what's being described as deceptive pricing (abc7news.com)
submitted 6 days ago by to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world
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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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[–] 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Sales tax is expected to be added to the base price at the point of purchase, and the legislated tax rate is - ostensibly - public knowledge in whatever municipality the store is in.

If the prices on your items' shelf tags are accurate, as is legally required, you can sum up all your items' base prices, apply your locality's tax rate to that subtotal, and get an accurate total before hitting the checkout.

This article is about the shelf tags or labels being out of line entirely with the base prices the register pulls out of the system, which is obviously illegal basically everywhere. You can't display one price and surprise customers at the register with a different, higher price. This has nothing to do with sales tax added at the register and not shown on the tag.

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