FTC and 20 states sue Dollar General over alleged overcharges

The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states sued Dollar General on Monday, alleging the retailer charged customers more at checkout than the prices shown on shelves and in advertisements for years, resulting in millions of dollars in unlawful overcharges.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, says the pricing discrepancies affected millions of purchases at thousands of stores. Dollar General operates about 21,000 stores nationwide.

“Although Dollar General promises convenience, low prices, and value, the company has routinely charged customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, price tags, and advertisements,” the complaint says. “This pattern of inaccurate pricing has persisted for years and affects millions of purchases across the country.”

The FTC and the states are seeking a permanent injunction, monetary relief and other remedies. The complaint also says Dollar General received thousands of consumer complaints alleging that stores failed to honor advertised prices at checkout. The FTC argues those complaints show the company knew customers were being harmed.

“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,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS News or to questions from The Guardian about the lawsuit. The company has previously told The Guardian that it is “committed to providing customers with accurate prices on items purchased in our stores.” It also said in 2025 that it was “disappointed” whenever it failed to meet its commitment to accurate shelf pricing.

The lawsuit cites a Guardian investigation published in December 2025. The Guardian reported that Dollar General stores failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states over a three-year period. According to the complaint, that report prompted significant internal deliberation and discussions at the company.

The FTC says Dollar General has policies intended to keep shelf and register prices aligned, including directions for employees to replace outdated labels on certain days. But the complaint says the company does not track whether newly printed labels actually make it onto shelves. Workers told The Guardian that understaffing often left them too busy to change labels. A lead sales associate in Louisiana told the newspaper: “I threw away tags sometimes, to keep me or a co-worker out of trouble.”

In court documents filed in Ohio, Dollar General’s lawyers have argued that “it is virtually impossible for a retailer to match shelf pricing and scanned pricing 100% of the time for all items. Perfection in this regard is neither plausible nor expected under the law,” according to The Guardian.

The Guardian also reported that Dollar General agreed to a $1.875 million settlement in a separate New York case involving allegations that it repeatedly overcharged customers in that state.