The price on the tag isn’t always the price that rings up, and $40 million is set aside for shoppers who paid the difference.
Your Daily Dad Joke
How many programmers does it take to change a light bulb?
None, that’s a hardware problem.
Check the screen at checkout
You grab the paper towels because the tag says they’re on sale. Then the dish soap, a box of cereal, something for the kids’ lunches. At the register, you’re bagging, counting out cash or tapping your card, and nobody is watching the little screen. Why would you? The price was right there on the shelf.
That’s why I wanted to pass this along.
You may have seen the news this week that Family Dollar agreed to a $63 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states. The FTC and the states allege the chain “routinely charged customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, price tags and advertisements.” The FTC also says state and local inspectors cited Family Dollar for thousands of pricing violations over the last five years, and that the app’s coupons often didn’t give people the price they showed.
So the fair question is, does any of that money come back to me?
Some of it is meant to. Family Dollar has to set up a $40 million fund for eligible shoppers and a $20 million discount program, according to the FTC. It also has to post notices in its stores and on its app and website telling people about the fund. The FTC hasn’t said yet who qualifies or how you’d apply, and a judge still has to sign off on the order. So I wouldn’t spend it in your head. If you shop there, I’d keep an eye out for that notice.
Here’s the bigger thing. This isn’t one store’s problem. The FTC sued Dollar General in October over the same kind of pricing, and that case is still going. Prices change in the system, and sometimes the tag on the shelf just doesn’t get changed with it. You pay the difference, a little at a time, and never know.
A quarter here and a dollar there doesn’t feel like much. On a tight week it’s the difference between getting everything on the list and putting something back.
The one thing I’d do. Next time you check out, anywhere, watch the screen as things ring up, or glance down the receipt before you leave the store. If something rang up higher than the tag, I’d say so right there. Most cashiers will fix it on the spot. It takes about thirty seconds, and it’s a lot easier at the register than after you get home.
Anyway, I wanted you to have this before your next run to the store.
Have you ever caught a price ringing up higher than the tag? Share it in the comments so we can all learn from it. I read every comment.
If this was important to you, share it with someone you care about.
Catching one wrong price won’t change your life. But it’s your money, and noticing where it goes is how you start keeping more of it. Have a good weekend, and I’ll see you Monday.
— Steve
Also on the site since yesterday: why a small payment on an old debt can hurt you in some states, the $183.5 million Acima rent-to-own settlement and two things to check before you raise your 401(k) contribution for 2027.
A longer video from me: What to Say When a Debt Collector Calls (Don’t Mess This Up!). It’s lesson one of my free class, and the heart of it is one calm sentence: “Can you please send me the validation notice in writing?”
SEE A SCAM? SAY SOMETHING. If one has landed on you or someone you love, tell me at tips@getoutofdebt.org. The ones that can warn other people may show up here. Leave out account numbers and passwords.
If this was important to you, share it with someone you care about. It’s free at yourmoneyactually.com, and I don’t sell the list. The places I actually use for my own money, and what I get out of telling you, are on one page where they’ll always be.
This is what I’m telling friends like you over coffee. But remember, you do you.