20 states demand money from Dollar General over register overcharges

Twenty states are asking a federal court to hold Dollar General accountable for charging customers more at checkout than on the shelves.

The lawsuit names 29,265 customer complaints filed between January 1, 2023, and March 31, 2026. The complaint argues the company ignored these reports for years. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said the prices shoppers see should match the prices they pay. He stated that higher checkout prices require accountability from the retailer.

The filing lists 19 other states joining Wisconsin in the case. These include California, New Jersey, and Ohio. The group argues the chain knew about the issue but did not fix it. The complaint notes that most price changes are increases. This means shoppers often pay more when the register updates before the shelf tags.

FTC investigators conducted undercover purchases at stores in four states. They shopped in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Maryland between January 16 and April 1, 2026. The complaint states that every single purchase resulted in a higher register price than the advertised price. The agency said the company routinely fails pricing inspections across the country.

Dollar General has settled seven state cases over pricing errors since 2019. Those settlements paid more than $6 million to six attorneys general and consumer protection agencies. The new complaint says the company still changes prices weekly. Employees are supposed to update shelf labels during a five-hour shift on Tuesdays. The filing claims stores are too thinly staffed to print and place new labels quickly enough.

The complaint cites a former assistant manager in Illinois who described the staffing levels. The manager said working with another person for only two to four hours of a shift was a lucky occurrence. Dollar General responded to the lawsuit with a written statement. The company said it aims for 100 percent accuracy between shelf and register prices. It added that occasional discrepancies can happen despite its policies.

Dollar General also argued that the FTC demanded a large monetary amount in prior talks. The company called the requested amount untethered to realistic assessments of pricing errors. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on Monday. The complaint is 95 pages long and includes details on how the company manages its pricing system.

The 20 states are seeking a court order to fix the pricing practices. They also want the company to pay for the overcharges. The complaint says the current system favors the store when errors occur. This happens because the register price updates before the physical shelf tag is swapped. The states want a system that ensures the lower price is charged to the customer.