Dollar General Agrees to Over $1.875m Settlement Over Overcharging New York Customers

Dollar General, the nation’s largest dollar-store chain, has agreed to a $1.875 million settlement to resolve allegations that it repeatedly and persistently overcharged customers across New York state.

The New York attorney general’s office found that the company often charged customers at checkout more than the prices promised on shelf labels, signs, advertising circulars and its mobile app.

The state agency said one check of 114 items across multiple stores revealed overcharges on individual items as high as 26 percent, 38 percent and 39 percent. Government inspections showed overcharges as high as 39 percent on some items.

Under the settlement, Dollar General will donate $1.875 million in food and personal items to a regional food bank in upstate New York.

The agreement also requires the company to put in place comprehensive price-accuracy safeguards at its more than 600 stores statewide.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said that when New Yorkers see a sale price advertised on the shelf, they should be able to trust that they will be charged that same price at the register.

The report also noted that the pricing issues at the company, which promotes itself as a lifeline for affordable, everyday essentials, are not limited to New York.

An investigation published in December reported that the chain frequently overcharged customers across the nation for items such as Flintstones vitamins, Peter Pan peanut butter and Prego pasta sauce. Dollar General stores failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states between 2022 and 2025.

An inspection at a Dollar General in Port Henry, New York, for example, flagged overcharges on 78 percent of the items checked. That example formed part of the background to the settlement.

Under the terms of the New York settlement, the company will be required to adopt a long list of policies and procedures, including scheduling staff to ensure shelf tags are updated for pricing accuracy and hiring independent auditors to conduct secret shopper tests.

The company will also be required to reformat its receipts. State investigators found Dollar General’s receipts included various confusing formats that made it difficult for consumers to figure out what they were really paying.

Dollar General neither admitted nor denied New York authorities’ findings. In a statement, it said it is committed to providing customers with accurate on-shelf prices and is disappointed any time it fails to deliver on that commitment; when a pricing discrepancy is identified, store teams are instructed, expected and empowered to correct the matter on the spot, it added.