4 Triangle stores fined for excessive price-scanner errors

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Eight North Carolina stores, including four in the Triangle, are among those fined for overcharging consumers because of excessive price-scanner errors.

"The price on the shelf and the price at the register should match," said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler in a release Wednesday. "Stores have a responsibility to make sure their pricing is accurate, and most stores pass inspection. Ones that don't face fines until they come into compliance."

Three stores in Wake County and one in Durham were among the violators in the second quarter of 2019:

• Circle K at 3301 Guess Road, Durham, has paid $1,875 in penalties. An inspection in March found an 8 percent error rate based on two overcharges in a 25-item lot. A second inspection in April found a 23 percent error rate based on 23 overcharges in a 100-item lot.

• Family Dollar at 2001 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, has paid $1,635 in penalties. An initial inspection in October found a 6 percent error rate based on three overcharges in a 50-item lot. A second inspection in November found a 3.33 percent error rate based on 10 overcharges in a 300-item lot. The store passed inspection in January.

• Advance Auto at 420 W. Gannon Ave., Raleigh, has paid $3,900 in penalties. An initial inspection in August found a 14 percent error rate based on seven overcharges in a 50-item lot. A second inspection in September found a 9.67 percent error rate based on 29 overcharges in a 300-item lot. A third inspection in November found a 3.67 percent error rate based on 11 overcharges in a 300-item lot. A fourth inspection in January found a 7.67 percent error rate based on 23 overcharges in a 300-item lot. The store passed inspection in March.

• Auto Zone at 1100 E. Williams St., Apex, has paid $390 in penalties. An initial inspection in April found a 6 percent error rate based on three overcharges in a 50-item lot. A second inspection in May found a 3 percent error rate based on nine overcharges in a 300-item lot.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Standards Division also collected fines from stores in Buncombe, Haywood, Pitt, and Watauga counties.

Those stores were Advance Auto in Candler, Dollar General in Canton, Dollar General in Winterville, and Staples in Boone.

The department conducts periodic, unannounced inspections of price-scanner systems in businesses 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.

Consumers who would like to file a complaint about scanner errors they encounter can call the Standards Division at (919) 707-3225.

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