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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 20 states have filed a lawsuit against Dollar General, alleging deceptive pricing practices. The lawsuit claims that customers were frequently charged more at checkout than the prices displayed on shelves, tags, and advertisements. According to the FTC, Dollar General received over 29,000 pricing complaints between January 2023 and March 2024 but did not adequately address the issue.
The lawsuit seeks refunds for affected customers, civil penalties, and a court order to prevent future deceptive pricing practices. Dollar General has not yet publicly responded to the lawsuit.
A class action lawsuit previously accused Dollar General of similar practices, alleging that the company regularly charged customers more than the advertised shelf prices. The lawsuit, filed in Ohio, claimed that Dollar General overcharged customers in Lorain and Cuyahoga Counties, violating the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. The case highlighted instances where products were marked up at checkout, such as a Crystal Valley water bottle priced at $0.85 on the shelf but costing $0.95 at checkout, as reported by ClassAction.org.
In a related development, Dollar General agreed to a multimillion-dollar legal settlement to address claims of higher checkout prices than shelf tags in several states. This settlement requires operational changes to reduce pricing discrepancies, as noted by Yahoo Finance.
The settlement, which does not admit wrongdoing, was approved by the court and covers consumers who shopped at Dollar General between October 10, 2016, and November 19, 2025. It includes a cash payment and an in-store benefit, as detailed by Artvoice.