FTC Sues Dollar General Over Register Prices; Nation's Shelf Tags And Registers Agree To See A Counselor

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn.—The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states sued Dollar General this week, alleging that the discount chain charged shoppers more at the register than the prices shown on shelf tags and in ads, a case that has forced the nation's shelf tags and cash registers to finally sit down in the same room and talk about their communication problems.

According to Retail Dive, the FTC says it ran undercover purchases at stores in four states and that the company received more than 29,000 price-honoring complaints from January 2023 through March of this year. Dollar General said it aims for complete pricing accuracy, that occasional discrepancies can occur, that the FTC's demands were "untethered" from any realistic assessment, and that it will defend the lawsuit vigorously. The allegations have not been proven in court.

Inside a fictional store in rural Ohio, the relationship between a shelf tag and the register at Lane 1 was described by coworkers as "tense, for years."

"I tell people one thing, and then he tells them something else," said the shelf tag, a fictional laminated rectangle hanging below a row of paper towels. "I have been very clear. I am printed. I am right there. And then they get to the front, and he just says a different number, very fast, on a little screen, while they are bagging. He never even looks at me."

What Shelf Tags And Registers Fight About

Who saw the price first	34%
Whether the sale ended Sunday	27%
The tag's font size	19%
Who left the scanner on	12%
Money, generally	8%

Source: The Daily SKU Family Court Desk; one tag, one register, a mediator with a clipboard

"I am printed. I am right there. He never even looks at me."

The register, reached at the front of the store, said it simply reports what it is told. "I do not make the prices," the register said. "I am in customer service. You know how many people yell at me in a day? Talk to the system. Talk to the price file. Talk to whoever goes up and down the aisles on Tuesday with the little label gun."

A fictional family therapist who works exclusively with point-of-sale hardware said the pattern is common. "It is the classic dynamic," she said. "One partner makes a promise in public. The other one handles the money. Nobody checks in. We are going to start with weekly price audits and a feelings scanner."

Shoppers, for their part, said they had started doing their own reconciliation. "I take a picture of every tag now," said a fictional retiree in Missouri. "My grandson thinks I am into photography. I am into $1.25."

At press time, the tag and the register had agreed on one thing, which was that the self-checkout should not be invited to the next session.

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