cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/53855582
NEW YORK – The Federal Trade Commission has sued the bargain chain Dollar General for what it characterized as “long-running deceptive pricing practices” by charging customers more once they reach the register than the prices that are displayed on shelves and in advertisements.
Twenty states joined in the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. It said that Dollar General failed to correct the issue despite what it said was “extensive corporate knowledge of the problem.”
“Dollar General has betrayed the trust of millions of American consumers and imposed significant financial harm on communities and consumers who are already struggling to make their paychecks last,” wrote Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, did not immediately return a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Every Dollar General store I’ve ever been in has been awful. They’re chronically under staffed by design. The stores are in constant disarray. Even the new ones. If you walk into a store 6 months after it was built you’d swear it was 50 years old based on how it looks.
I have two close ones and one is as you describe but the other is somehow nice. All the shelves have been “fronted” the food, even the produce, looks good. Prices are good too and some OTC medicine I take is cheaper and more reliably in stock than the grocery store.
They sell produce at these places? 😳
In many places they are the only option in an otherwise food desert.
A food desert with a Dollar General in it is still a food desert.
Dollar General threads are where it’s clear who’s from the city and who’s not.
What’s wrong hon? You’ve barely touched your Pringles
https://www.fna.usda.gov/snap/retailer/eligible
If they want to accept EBT cards, they need to be a SNAP vendor, which requires they stock some kind of produce. Gas station convenience stores in my area stock apples and bananas (among other things) to qualify.
Some do. You can tell by the sign.
Some regular dollar generals also offer very limited produce. Way less than the market stores. Seems to be the most rural ones in my experience
Didn’t know that! I’ve only seen Markets with produce and there’s only 1 I can think of around here. In any case it’s overpriced, but fair enough I guess for a small store without a dedicated produce section and staff. I something feel they added fresh produce to answer all the bitching about food desserts.
They have some that sell very limited produce and they also have an offshoot called Dollar General Market that’s a bit bigger and has a larger selection of produce.
Sometimes. The one in my hometown does.
They have a rodent problem also, not limited to one area
https://www.google.com/search?q=dollar+general+rodent+problem&udm=14
Was just commenting that the new DG down the street is extraordinarily well run with happy employees. I’d like to take DG leadership by the neck and say, “You’re working for this manager for two months and you’re going to fucking learn whatever the hell she’s doing.”
Likely they are properly staffed.
Thought so to! But that’s a higher-level corporate decision, not down to the local manager, at least in my experience. Maybe DG incentivises local managers to be cheap on labor hours? My boss at Lowe’s had zero control over allocated hours.
I would guess so.
I’ve worked for franchise places. Number of workers was determined by higher ups. Much higher up.
Ours vary a lot but one is pretty decent. Their prices are generally better than grocery or drug stores for name-brand things like ice cream, deodorant, and shampoo.
Are you sure that they are selling the same quantities? In mine they have many of the same products for sale in 2/3 or 1/2 sized packages and the unit costs are higher if you keep track.
That’s always been the shtick for these types of stores. Small enough quantity that you end up paying more in the long run.
Sometimes you only need a small amount, though. And in those cases, it can be a good option.
You have to watch that sometimes, but for things like Arizona Iced Teas or Edy’s ice cream the quantities are the usual.
I believe they call that innovation.
Yes, and the self-checkout was wasted money as they all sit closed for some reason, they should have known it wasn’t practical, but I still go sometimes and wait in line since only one employee.