Kroger stores nationwide have been overcharging shoppers on expired and discounted sale items – potentially breaking federal and state laws and sapping extra dollars from cash-strapped customers, according to a monthslong investigation.
The Cincinnati-based chain has long been accused of inaccurate price labels, fending off several class-action lawsuits filed by customers in California, Illinois, Ohio and Utah who claim they were charged full price at the register for items with sale tags.
Executives at the major grocery chain have allegedly discussed the need to remedy the issue at internal meetings – but the faulty tags have stuck around at dozens of Kroger stores, according to an investigation led by Consumer Reports, The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Network.
“The Consumer Reports allegations boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions,” a Kroger spokesperson told The Post in a statement.
“It in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing,” they said, adding that the company regularly conducts price checks, reviewing millions of items each week.
The news outlets recruited shoppers to check prices at 26 Kroger and Kroger-owned stores, including Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Fry’s and Ralphs, across 14 states and the District of Columbia in March, April and May.
These undercover customers were overcharged on more than 150 items with incorrect sales labels, from Cheerios and Nescafe instant coffee to Mucinex cold medicine and dog food – and at least five items that had expired 90 days ago.
In one instance, an undercover shopper paid $4.99 for salt and pepper pistachios – $2.50 more than the advertised $2.49 sales price.
In another, Kroger rang up a pack of flour tortillas for $4.99 at the register, though they had been advertised at a discounted $2.99.
“The scale of the price errors identified at Kroger, and the length of time that these issues have persisted, are deeply concerning,” Nina DiSalvo, policy director of the nonprofit legal organization Towards Justice, told Consumer Reports.
Kroger’s persistent price tag errors could violate both federal and state consumer protection laws, according to several lawyers.
The grocery chain is especially dominant in parts of the Midwest and the South, where it is often one of few grocers to choose from, leaving shoppers with few alternatives.
Overcharges, which can easily go unnoticed, could be hitting customers especially hard after years of food inflation and a downturn in consumer sentiment amid President Trump’s trade war.
“It really makes me feel bad because some of [the customers] are on fixed incomes and they’re older. They’re not going to pay attention,” Joy Alexander, who has worked at a Kroger-owned King Soopers store in Denver for 18 years, told Consumer Reports.
“They think that when they took it off the shelf, it was $2.50. They don’t know that they’re paying $3.75 for that one item.”
Just over the past year, Kroger customers Allison and Derek Hadfield have filed three separate complaints against the Belpre, Ohio location, where they spend about $500 on groceries each month.
“Almost every single time I go in the store, the listed price of an item is NOT what rings up at the register,” Allison Hadfield wrote in a complaint.
The couple claimed Kroger employees told them the store didn’t have enough staff to keep the tags up to date.
Though Kroger has reported record sales and profits since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has cut back on staffing and hours, especially in the stores with egregious price tag errors, according to Consumer Reports.
Between 2019 and 2024, the average number of employees at these stores dropped by 17, with 2.7 fewer hours worked each week, according to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Kroger said it has not reduced labor hours, and that it intentionally makes “data-driven” staffing decisions to keep stores “running smoothly while creating an enjoyable place to shop.”
Several other retail chains have found themselves in hot water over inaccurate pricing allegations over the past few years.
Walmart is facing a lawsuit from an Illinois shopper who alleged overcharges between 10% and 15% on six items.
Grocery chains Safeway, Albertsons and Vons in October agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle allegations they charged customers higher prices than advertised.
And earlier this year, North Carolina fined several Dollar General and Family Dollar stores thousands of dollars after its agriculture division uncovered repeated price tag errors.
