Attorney General Griffin Joins FTC and 19 States in Suing Dollar General for Charging Consumers More than Advertised

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 19 other states, sued Dollar General Corporation for engaging in long-running deceptive pricing practices by routinely charging customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, price tags and advertisements, costing consumers millions of dollars.

Arkansas and 19 state partners joined the FTC in filing a complaint, alleging that for years Dollar General has repeatedly mislabeled prices, overcharged consumers and failed to correct the issue despite extensive corporate knowledge of the problem. The other states joining the FTC lawsuit include Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
Griffin issued the following statement:

“Arkansans shouldn’t have to pay more at the register than the price they were promised on the shelf. Businesses have a responsibility to advertise their prices honestly, and those that deceive consumers must be held accountable. My office will continue cracking down on deceptive practices that hurt Arkansas consumers.”

According to the complaint:

• Thousands of Dollar General stores have taken advantage of vulnerable shoppers by extracting millions of dollars in unlawful overcharges with insufficient safeguards to prevent the practice.

• Dollar General received tens of thousands of complaints from consumers across the country who say the company did not honor the advertised price, demonstrating widespread consumer harm and confirming that customers nationwide have been charged more than the advertised price.

• Dollar General knows that it harms consumers by charging more at the register than the prices it advertises, as reflected by the numerous complaints it has received.
Despite being made aware of the problem, Dollar General has failed to implement policies and practices to adequately address the problem, according to the complaint.

• Thousands of Dollar General stores have taken advantage of vulnerable shoppers by extracting millions of dollars in unlawful overcharges with insufficient safeguards to prevent the practice.
• Dollar General received tens of thousands of complaints from consumers across the country who say the company did not honor the advertised price, demonstrating widespread consumer harm and confirming that customers nationwide have been charged more than the advertised price.
• Dollar General knows that it harms consumers by charging more at the register than the prices it advertises, as reflected by the numerous complaints it has received.
• Despite being made aware of the problem, Dollar General has failed to implement policies and practices to adequately address the problem, according to the complaint.

The FTC and states allege these practices violate the FTC Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and Arkansas law.

To read a copy of the lawsuit, click here.

To download a PDF version of this release, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin is currently an officer in the Arkansas Army National Guard and holds the rank of colonel. Griffin served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 28 years. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana; the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

###

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.