Dollar General sued for overcharging customers, listing false prices on shelves

Ohio’s state attorney general is suing Dollar General over allegations that it listed false prices for products on shelves and charged customers more than advertised at the register.

The lawsuit cites complaints from 12 county inspections between March 2021 and August, which found that Dollar General stores had been tricking customers into paying more for their products than they thought.

Depending on the store, between 16% and 88% of tested items were found to be listed as cheaper on the shelf than they were at checkout, according to the suit. State law gives stores a maximum 2% legal margin between the listed and actual price.

Last month, an inspection performed by Butler County found that 20 stores in the county had listed false prices, according to the suit.

“Ohioans can ill-afford businesses that draw people in with the promise of low prices only to deceive them at the checkout counter,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement.

“This seems like a company trying to make an extra buck and hoping no one will notice. We’ve not only noticed but are taking action to stop it.”

Yost said the violation is especially egregious amid the rising cost of living, saying, “everything we buy these days costs more.”

Yost is seeking a $25,000 fine for each store that participated in deceitful pricing, and for the Tennessee-based company to pay the damages to all customers who were deceived. He is also seeking an injunction that would bar Dollar General Corp. from doing any business in Ohio until all debts are paid.

Dollar General first launched into Ohio in 2015 and now operates 943 stores statewide.

The company has not responded to The Post’s request for comment.