Are you checking your grocery receipts for errors?

Shoppers at one of the nation’s largest grocery chains may be unknowingly paying more for groceries. 

An in-depth investigation by Consumer Reports and two news organizations found that Kroger customers were often charged higher prices at checkout than what was listed on store shelves. And even if you don’t have a Kroger nearby, CR said it’s worth paying attention since similar pricing issues have also been reported at other stores.

Imagine picking up an item on sale only to be charged full price at checkout. That's exactly what Consumer Reports says is happening at Kroger-owned stores across the country.

A months-long investigation by Consumer Reports, The Guardian and the Food and Environment Reporting Network uncovered widespread pricing errors. The organizations found expired sale tags on more than 150 different grocery items, which actually led to overcharges at the checkout counter on everything from beef, salmon, coffee, juice, vegetables — even cough medicine and dog food.

Consumer Reports launched its investigation after Kroger workers in Colorado, currently in union negotiations, alleged widespread and long-standing price-label errors. To measure the scope of the problem, CR recruited shoppers to visit 26 Kroger-owned stores in 14 states and Washington, D.C.

On average, shoppers were overcharged $1.70 per sales item, or 18.4% more.

Why is it happening? 

Kroger workers said that major staffing cuts and reduced hours have left them stretched way too thin, making it nearly impossible for them to keep up with changing all the price tags. Some stores have as many as 15,000 discount tags hanging at any one time.

Kroger has been testing digital price tags in some stores, which could help fix ongoing pricing issues, saying they offer “better accuracy” for shoppers. The company said it also corrects price mistakes, with a policy called Make it Right that lets employees fix errors on the spot.

In a statement, Kroger said it's “committed to affordable and accurate pricing” and that it regularly conducts price checks that review “millions of items weekly to ensure our shelf prices are accurate.”

Kroger isn’t the only grocery store recently called out for allegedly having unfair or misleading pricing.

Just this past October, Safeway, Albertsons and Vons agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that they were charging customers more than the lowest advertised price.

Consumer Reports said that, no matter where you shop, take a quick photo of the sale tags, review the receipts before leaving the store and demand a refund if the price isn’t right.

Kroger said it also conducts audits on store prices, but an internal review of one store showed nearly 6% of items had wrong tags that led to overcharges at the register, well above Kroger’s policy that allows for no more than a 1% error rate.

San Diego County cases

San Diego County has inspectors who visit stores to make sure customers are paying the advertised price. Since January 2019, there were 57 inspections conducted at Ralphs grocery stores in San Diego County.

Twenty of those were initiated because of a complaint, and 15 notices of violation were issued for charging customers the wrong price.