Six Stores in North Carolina Fined for Excessive Price-scanning Errors

Three stores located in the Charlotte area.

July 8, 2007

MECKLENBURG COUNTY NC NEWS -- Recently six stores in North Carolina were assessed civil penalties for excessive price-scanning errors. All of the six stores are chain stores with three located in the Charlotte area. In addition, four of the six stores are part of Wal-mart Stores Incorporated. The fines were collected by N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Standards Division.

N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Standards Division periodically makes unannounced inspections of a business' price-scanner system to check for accuracy between the prices advertised and the prices that ring up at the register. If a store has more than a 2 percent error rate on overcharges, inspectors discuss the findings with the store manager and conduct a more intensive follow-up inspection at a later date. Penalties are assessed if a store fails the follow-up inspection. Moreover, the store will be reinspected every 60 days from the last inspection until it meets the 2-percent-or-less overcharge rate.

Steve Troxler, N.C. Agriculture Commissioner, commenting on the inspections said: "We constantly have inspectors monitoring the accuracy of price-scanning systems in retail stores throughout the state. These inspections ensure fairness in business transactions for consumers and retailers. In addition to routine inspections, our Standards Division responds to price-scanner errors reported by consumers. The division can be contacted at (919) 733-3313 with reports and complaints."

The following stores in the Charlotte area failed to pass follow-up inspections and were fined for having excessive price-scanning errors:

• Wal-Mart Supercenter number 5481 at 9820 Callabridge Court, Charlotte, paid $3,600 in civil penalties after Standards Division inspectors found price-scanner errors during two separate inspections. An initial inspection in April found an error rate of 4 percent based on four overcharges from an inspection lot of 100 randomly selected items. A follow-up inspection in May found 11 errors from 300 items, an error rate of 3.66 percent.
  
  
• Wal-Mart store number 1666 at 3204 Eastway Drive, Charlotte, paid $1,350 in civil penalties after two inspections found price-scanning errors. During an initial inspection in March, an error rate of 7 percent was found based on seven overcharges from an inspection lot of 100 randomly selected items. A follow-up inspection in May found an error rate of 3.33 percent based on 10 overcharges out of 300 items.
  
  
• Wal-Mart Supercenter number 3371 of 3240 Wilkerson Blvd., Charlotte, paid $1,620 in civil penalties after Standards Division inspectors found price-scanning errors on two occasions. An initial inspection in April found an error rate of 7 percent based on seven overcharges from an inspection lot of 100 items. A follow-up inspection in May found 10 overcharges from an inspection lot of 300 randomly selected items, an error rate of 3.33 percent.

Three of the six stores assessed civil penalties for excessive price-scanning errors are also located in Raleigh and Fayetteville, North Carolina.

• Wal-Mart Supercenter number 5292 of 2431 New Bern Ave., Raleigh, paid $1,515 after an April inspection found four overcharges from an inspection lot of 100 items, a 4 percent error rate. A follow-up inspection in June found 15 errors from a lot of 300 items, an error rate of 5 percent.
  
  
• K-Mart store number 3442 of 6200 Capital Blvd., Raleigh, paid $1,537.50 in civil penalties after inspectors found price-scanner errors during two inspections. The initial inspection in February found an error rate of 12 percent based on 12 overcharge errors from a random selection of 100 items. A follow-up investigation in March revealed an error rate of 4.66 percent based on 14 errors from a lot of 300 items.
  
  
• Advance Auto Parts store number 4126 at 2400 Owen Drive, Fayetteville, also paid a $705 civil penalty after inspectors found price-scanner errors during two inspections. The initial inspection in April found an error rate of 6 percent based on three overcharges from an inspection lot of 50 randomly selected items. A follow-up inspection in May found 15 errors from 300 items, an error rate of 5 percent.

Each store could have received a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation under the Weights and Measures Act of 1975. Money collected from civil penalties is distributed to school systems statewide. It is a shame that these penalties cannot be returned directly to the North Carolina taxpayers who suffer the loss from the excessive price-scanning errors. Charlotte area consumers should pay especially close attention to their receipts when shopping in retail stores.

Published by:
Rob Cross
mailto:editor@357news.com

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