Metro Detroit Kroger stores overcharging customers, investigation finds

CBS News

5 hours ago

A recent investigation by Consumer Reports, The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Network found that some Kroger locations are overcharging their customers for sale items.
As part of the investigation, shoppers were recruited to visit 26 Kroger locations in 14 states and Washington, D.C.
At half of the locations, they were overcharged for more than 150 items that had expired sale labels.
Two of those locations are in Farmington Hills at West 12 Mile Road and Middlebelt Road.
"It's really disappointing as a consumer," said customer Janice Ford. "You really expect the prices to be right, especially in this time."
Ford said she has experienced this problem many times at Kroger, but not the ones listed in the report. She shops at the Canton Center Road location in Canton.
"I've taken it to court a few times and won ... every time I've actually done it," she said. "I think it's a way to educate not only the store, but educate other consumers. We expect the prices to be right and we're counting on them to be right, so the store needs to honor that."
In her purse, she carries a copy of the Michigan Scanner Law.
It states that once a transaction is complete and the customer has a receipt showing what they paid for an item, they are entitled to report it to the seller within a 30-day period to receive the difference between the displayed price and what they were charged.
According to the law, they are also entitled to receive a bonus payment ranging from $1 to $5.
"I'll walk back, take a look at the item on the shelf, take a picture, so I have that along with the scanner law to really kind of fight my own battles to say the price was supposed to be this and that's what I'm expecting to pay," said Ford.
Tammie Menci says she has encountered the same issue on several occasions.
"A lot of times, I grab items that appear to be on sale," said Menci. "When I get to check out, I notice, if I'm paying attention to this certain item, that the item really wasn't on sale."
She said that although customer service has paid her back the difference, the burden to double-check prices should not fall on consumers.
"When I find out that I've been overcharged for an item that should have been on sale, it's upsetting as a customer because I feel that the store should be doing everything that they can to make sure that the customer sees the exact price of the item that they're getting," said Menci.
A Kroger spokesperson provided the following statement to CBS News Detroit:
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 workload and 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.