Kroger accused of overcharging customers on sale items, report finds

FILE - A Kroger grocery store in Savannah, Georgia, US, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. Photographer: Parker Puls/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Kroger, one of the nation’s largest grocery store chains, has a high rate of price tag errors that often leads to customers being overcharged at the register, a new report finds.

Consumer Reports, a consumer advocacy nonprofit, worked with The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) to investigate reports of Kroger overcharging for sale items after workers in Colorado alleged widespread pricing errors that had been going on for years.

Kroger, which has 1,241 stores in 16 states, has also been the target of multiple class-action lawsuits in four states over its pricing errors. Inspectors have also cited high rates of price tag errors for Kroger, the report states.

Kroger pricing errors investigation

Consumer Reports says it had people shop at 26 Kroger-owned stores in 14 states to investigate the problem. Those stores included Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Fry’s and Ralphs.

By the numbers:

The shoppers found expired sales labels that led to customers being overcharged for more than 150 grocery items, including beef, salmon, cereal, dog food, instant coffee and cold and flu medications. The average overcharge was $1.70 per item, or 18.4%.

What they're saying:

"Our findings suggest the typical Kroger shopper ends up paying far more for what they think are discounted items—all during a time of inflation and economic uncertainty," the report states.

Kroger employees told Consumer Reports that the stores don’t have enough staff to keep up with shelf tags.

The other side:

In a statement to LiveNow from FOX, a Kroger spokesperson called the allegations "misinformation."

"The Consumer Reports allegations boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions," the statement says. "It in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing."

Kroger said it conducts "robust price check processes" and reviews millions of items weekly to ensure accurate shelf prices.

"The complaint noted by Consumer Reports included a few dozen examples across several years out of billions of customer transactions annually. While any error is unacceptable, the characterization of widespread pricing concerns is patently false," Kroger said.