Dollar General agrees to a nearly $1.9m settlement for overcharging New York customers
Government inspections showed overcharges as high as 39% on some items. The discount store giant was the subject of a 2025 investigation by the Guardian
Dollar General, the nationâÂÂs largest dollar-store chain, has agreed to a $1.875m deal to settle allegations that it âÂÂrepeatedly and persistentlyâ overcharged customers across New York state.
Under the settlement, Dollar General will donate $1.875m in food and personal items to a regional food bank in upstate New York. The agreement also requires that the company put in place comprehensive price-accuracy safeguards at its more than 600 stores statewide.
âÂÂWhen New Yorkers see a sale price advertised on the shelf, they should be able to trust that theyâÂÂll be charged that same price at the register,â the New York attorney general, Letitia James, said.
The pricing issues at the company â which promotes itself as âÂÂa lifeline for affordable, everyday essentialsâ â are not limited to the state of New York.
A Guardian investigation published in December reported that the chain frequently overcharged customers across the nation for such items as Flintstones vitamins, Peter Pan peanut butter and Prego pasta sauce. Dollar General stores flunked more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections in 23 states between 2022 and 2025, the Guardian found.
An inspection at a Dollar General in Port Henry, New York, for example, flagged overcharges on 78% of the items checked.
Under the terms of the New York settlement, the company will be required to embrace a long list of policies and procedures â 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 GeneralâÂÂs receipts included âÂÂvarious confusing formatsâ that made it difficult for consumers to figure out what they were really paying.
Dollar General neither admitted nor denied New York authoritiesâ findings.
In a statement in response to questions from the Guardian, it said: âÂÂDollar General is committed to providing customers with accurate on-shelf prices on items purchased in our stores, and we are disappointed any time we fail to deliver on this commitment. When a pricing discrepancy is identified, our store teams are instructed, expected and empowered to correct the matter on the spot for our customers.âÂÂ
It added that âÂÂwe have in place a number of measures designed to promote pricing accuracy, and we continuously evaluate and evolve these measuresâÂÂ.