FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

CONTACT:

Chad Parker, manager NCDA&CS Standards Division Measurement Section 919-707-3225

Mount Olive store pays fines for price scanning errors

RALEIGH - The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Standards Division has collected fines from a Mount Olive store because of excessive price-scanner errors.

“The price on the shelf and the price at the register should match,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Stores have a responsibility to make sure their pricing is accurate, and most stores pass inspection. Ones with errors face fines until they come into compliance.”

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. Undercharges are also reported, but do not count against a store. Consumers who would like to file a complaint about scanner errors they encounter, can call the Standards Division at 919-707-3225.

Penalties are assessed if a store fails a follow-up inspection. In addition to the penalties paid, the store will be subject to re-inspection every 60 days from the last inspection until it meets the 2-percent-or-less error rate. Additional penalties may be assessed if a store fails a re-inspection.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Standards Division’s measurement section delayed routine price scanner inspections for a period of time, but those have resumed, starting with holdovers from earlier in the year. 

Following is the civil penalty that was recorded in the second quarter of 2020:

• Piggly Wiggly #30 at 615 Breazeale Ave., Mount Olive, has paid $2,085 in penalties. An initial inspection in February found a 12 percent error rate based on six overcharges in a 50-item lot. A follow up inspection in March found a 3 percent error rate based on nine overcharges in a 300-item lot. The store will be re-inspected.

-jmp-1

 

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