Shoppers at one of the country’s largest grocery store chains may be unknowingly paying more for groceries after an in-depth investigation found that customers were often charged higher prices than what was listed on store shelves.
The months-long investigation, by NBC 5 Responds partner Consumer Reports, along with The Guardian and The Food and Environmental Reporting Network, found Kroger stores had widespread pricing errors, that customers paying full price for items that were advertised and marked as on sale.
“We found expired sale tags on more than 150 different grocery items that actually led to overcharges at the checkout counter, everything from beef, salmon, coffee, juice, vegetables, even cough medicine and dog food,” Consumer Reports Investigative Reporter Derek Kravitz said.
The investigation comes after workers at Kroger-owned grocery stores in Colorado alleged widespread price-label inaccuracies. Following the claims, Consumer Reports recruited shoppers to visit 26 Kroger-owned stores in 14 states and Washington D.C.
As part of the investigation, they found shoppers were overcharged on average $1.70 per sales item, or 18.4% more.
It wasn’t immediately clear if shoppers visited Mariano’s stores in Illinois, all of which are owned by Kroger.
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Workers currently in union negotiations at Kroger grocery stores say staffing cuts and reduced hours have made it difficult to keep up with changing every price tag in stores. Some stores have as many as 15,000 discount tags hanging at any one time, the investigation found.
Officials at Kroger said they are testing digital price tags in some stores, which could fix pricing issues by offering “better accuracy” for shoppers. The company also said it corrects price mistakes through a policy called “Make it Right,” that lets employees fix the price on the spot.
Kroger said it also conducts audits on store prices, but an internal review of one store showed nearly 6% of items had wrong tags that led to overcharges at the register.
Other grocery stores have also come under fire recently for alleged misleading pricing.
In 2022, a shopper sued Walmart, claiming it overcharged him by as much as 15% on six different items. Last year, some grocery stores owned by Jewel-Osco parent company Albertsons greed to pay nearly $4 million to settle a lawsuit alleging they were charging customers more than the lowest advertised price.
In a statement, Kroger said it is “committed to affordable and accurate pricing.”
“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 statement went on to say. “We respect our associates and our customers, and we conduct our business accordingly.”
NBC 5 Responds and Consumer Reports recommend shoppers, no matter the grocery store, snap a quick photo of the sales tags on the items they intend to buy. Consumers are also advised to review their receipt before leaving a store, and demand a refund if the prices don’t match.
Kroger’s full statement can be found below:
“Kroger is committed to affordable and accurate pricing, and we conduct robust price check processes that reviews millions of items weekly to ensure our shelf prices are accurate. The complaint noted by Consumer Reports included a few dozen examples across several years out of billions of customer transactions annually. While any error is unacceptable, the characterization of widespread pricing concerns is patently false.
Kroger’s “Make It Right” policy ensures associates can create a customer experience and addresses any situation when we unintentionally fall short of a customer’s expectations. Connecting regular technology upgrades and our “Make It Right” policy to price accuracy is incorrect.
It is also inaccurate to say the company reduced standards or labor hours. We have not done so, and in fact, the standards we set in 2017 remain the same today. We intentionally staff our stores to keep them running smoothly while creating an enjoyable place to shop. Our staffing decisions are data-driven to balance workloadand schedules.
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. We respect our associates and our customers, and we conduct our business accordingly.”
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