California joins FTC lawsuit accusing Dollar General of overcharging customers

The Federal Trade Commission has sued the bargain chain Dollar General for what it characterized as “long-running deceptive pricing practices” by charging customers more once they reach the register than the prices that are displayed on shelves and in advertisements. Twenty states, including California, joined in the complaint, filed by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. It said that Dollar General, which operates 21,000 stores nationwide, failed to correct the issue despite what it said was “extensive corporate knowledge of the problem.” “Dollar General has betrayed the trust of millions of American consumers and imposed significant financial harm on communities and consumers who are already struggling to make their paychecks last,” wrote Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. One of the issues, according to the agency, is understaffing. Although Dollar General has policies in place to align register prices with