DENVER (KDVR) — Undercover shoppers found multiple cases of grocery items that led to higher prices paid by shoppers in some Kroger and Kroger-owned stores.
In March, April and May, undercover shoppers went to 26 Kroger and Kroger-owned stores across 14 states and the District of Columbia to investigate claims that the grocery giant put incorrect price tags on items. The investigation was conducted by Consumer Reports, The Guardian and the Food and Environment Reporting Network.
2 Colorado zoos among 10 best in US: Newsweek Readers’ Choice"The shoppers found expired sales labels that led to overcharges on more than 150 grocery items, including Cheerios cereal, Mucinex cold and flu medication, Nescafé instant coffee, boneless beef, salmon, and dog food," Consumer Reports wrote. "One-third of the expired sales tags were out of date by at least 10 days, and the prices of five of the products were expired by at least 90 days. The average overcharge we found was $1.70 per item, or 18.4 percent. Our findings suggest the typical Kroger shopper ends up paying far more for what they think are discounted items — all during a time of inflation and economic uncertainty."
A King Soopers spokesperson provided a statement on behalf of Kroger to FOX31 about the report, stating: "The Consumer Reports allegations boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions. It in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing."
UFCW Local 7, the union that represents thousands of Colorado grocery store workers, said the Consumer Reports investigation was launched after the union conducted its investigation of chronic understaffing in stores. The union claims the understaffing led to "rampant over-charging and inaccuracy in prices paid at the register in Colorado grocery stores."
“Consumer Reports has confirmed what workers have been telling King Soopers and City Market for months now – that chronic understaffing in grocery stores prevents the company from making sure the prices on the shelves match the price a customer is paying at the register. When Kroger dictates that workers’ hours be cut in these stores, it is customers who pay the price,” said Kim Cordova, UFCW Local 7 President, in a union release. “Now is the time for consumers to tell Kroger executives that the public does not want to pay for Kroger’s understaffing problem.”
Consumer Reports said that, according to complaints and shopper reports, King Soopers employees worked quickly to correct pricing errors that were shared, but that many other errors "undoubtedly go unnoticed."
Denver metro grocery stores ranked among worst in nation“In a typical week, Kroger asks us to hang thousands of new and updated tags throughout the store reflecting price changes on thousands of products. Yet because so few hours are scheduled to hang these tags, the work of hanging each week’s tags almost never gets done before the next week’s tags arrive," said Joy Alexander, a scan coordinator at a Denver King Soopers, in the union's release on the report.
Staffing appears linked to price tag errors
The report found that stores where the undercover shoppers didn't find any or fewer price tag errors also had noticeably fewer staffing cuts and reduced working hours. In stores with significant numbers of price tag errors, the average number of employees was down by about 17 employees per store, with hours cut by 9.9% or about 2.7 hours.
Stores with fewer errors had an average of 9.5 employees cut, and average hours reduced by 9.3% or about 2.4 hours per week.
Consumer Reports said Colorado employees and union officials say the overcharging has created angry customers, "with some taking out their frustrations on cashiers and other front-of-the-store employees." However, the employees say a base-level push to correct expired discount tags was never conducted.
“They go: ‘Just take care of the customer, deal with it, and we’ll fix it later on.’ And that never happens,” said Chris Lacey, a King Soopers service manager in Colorado, in Consumer Reports' article.
The union said Kroger responded to the Consumer Reports story by announcing the hiring of about 15,000 workers but didn't specify if the hirings are for new positions or turnover. In its release, Kroger said it was "seeking to hire new associates."
Kroger sent a press release to FOX31 on Thursday announcing a new store opening in Frederick, but the release did not discuss any hirings related to the opening. On its job posting site, Kroger listed several new positions throughout the week.
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"Indeed, a senior Kroger executive questioned 'why are tags not being done,' in a meeting with Colorado union representatives in January, according to minutes of that meeting," Consumer Reports said. "'If we are not getting the job done, that is a different problem for us,' the Kroger executive said."
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