Shoppers overcharged at some Kroger stores due to expired sale price tags: report

Shoppers at some Kroger-owned grocery stores have reportedly been paying full-price for items inaccurately labeled as discounted by out-of-date shelf price tags.

Consumer Reports, The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Network had people visit about two dozen grocery stores owned by Kroger, with more than half of the locations having sale price tags that were no longer applicable to some items, according to Consumer Reports. 

The Kroger, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyers, Fry’s and Ralphs locations where they inspected the labels during the investigation were located in 14 states and Washington, D.C.

Consumer Reports, The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Networks’ shoppers faced overcharges on over 150 items due to out-of-date price tags identifying them as on sale, the report said. 

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They were charged over $1.70 more per item than the price displayed on the outdated sale label on average, according to Consumer Reports. 

The other stores that the organizations’ shoppers visited reportedly had "mostly" current sales labels. 

Kroger said in a statement to FOX Business that the Consumer Reports claims "boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions." 

Kroger said the findings "in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing," according to the outlet. 

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The company said it does "robust price check processes that reviews millions of items weekly to ensure our shelf prices are accurate." 

Kroger has also pushed back the notion of out-of-date sales labels being widespread, telling Consumer Reports that was "patently false." 

Consumer Reports said claims of widespread price tag issues from Colorado Kroger workers prompted it, The Guardian and Food & Environment Reporting Networks to pursue its investigation. 

Some workers at Kroger pointed the finger at staffing levels, something Kroger also refuted, according to the report.

"For nearly two decades, Kroger's business model has been rooted in bringing down prices to attract more customers to our stores – and this is not changing," the company said. "We respect our associates and our customers, and we conduct our business accordingly." 

The company had more than 2,700 grocery stores across its various brands at the beginning of February and can be found in 35 states and Washington, D.C.

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