联邦贸易委员会联合20州起诉Dollar General：结账价高于货架标价，多年多收消费者数百万美元
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）10月26日宣布，已联合20个州起诉折扣零售商 Dollar General，指控该公司长期从事欺骗性定价：结账时向顾客收取高于货架、价签与广告所标的价格，令消费者损失数百万美元。参与起诉的州包括 Alabama、Arizona、Arkansas、加利福尼亚州、Connecticut、Florida、Illinois、Iowa、Kansas、Louisiana、Michigan、Mississippi、Nebraska、New Jersey、North Carolina、Ohio、Oklahoma、Tennessee、Utah 与 Wisconsin。
诉状指控，Dollar General 多年来反复标错价格、多收顾客费用，并且在公司对问题有广泛了解的情况下仍未纠正。联邦贸易委员会消费者保护局局长 Christopher Mufarrige 表示：「Dollar General 背叛了数百万美国消费者的信任，给本就靠工资勉强度日的社区与消费者造成重大经济损害。」他说，联邦贸易委员会此举意在通过制止伤害美国人的欺骗性定价行为，为消费者降低生活成本。
据诉状，数以千计的 Dollar General 门店在缺乏足够防范措施的情况下，从弱势购物者身上攫取了数百万美元的违法多收款项；该公司在全美各地收到数以万计的消费者投诉，称其未按广告价格收费，这既显示消费者损害面之广，也证实全国各地的顾客都被收了高于广告标示的价格。诉状称，从大量投诉即可看出，Dollar General 明知其在结账环节多收费的行为伤害消费者。
Dollar General 在全美经营 21,000 多家门店，以低价定位作为大型折扣与仓储式零售商的替代选择，销售数以千计的低价日用商品。联邦贸易委员会指出，这些商品对依赖其价格准确性的低收入与固定收入顾客至关重要。上述指控目前为诉状主张，案件有待法院审理。
来源：GSM·美国
FTC and 20 States Sue Dollar General: Register Prices Higher Than Shelf Prices, Millions in Alleged Overcharges
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on October 26 that it has sued Dollar General Corporation, joined by 20 states, alleging long-running deceptive pricing practices: routinely charging customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, price tags and advertisements, costing consumers millions of dollars. The states joining the lawsuit are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
The complaint alleges that Dollar General has, for years, repeatedly mislabeled prices, overcharged consumers and failed to correct the issue despite 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," said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. He said the action underscores the agency's commitment to lowering costs for consumers by stopping deceptive pricing practices.
According to the complaint, thousands of Dollar General stores extracted millions of dollars in unlawful overcharges from vulnerable shoppers with insufficient safeguards to prevent the practice. The company received tens of thousands of complaints from consumers across the country who said it did not honor the advertised price, demonstrating widespread consumer harm and confirming that customers nationwide were charged more than the advertised price; the complaint says the numerous complaints show Dollar General knows its register pricing harms consumers.
Dollar General operates more than 21,000 stores nationwide and markets itself as a low-priced alternative to large discount and big-box retailers, selling thousands of low-priced household items that the FTC says are critical to its low- and fixed-income customers, who rely on the accuracy of its pricing. The claims are allegations in a complaint and remain to be decided by a court.
Source: GSM·USA
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：Dollar General 门店（资料图，Connecticut 州 Enfield 一家门店）。照片：Mike Mozart 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: a Dollar General store in Enfield, Connecticut (file photo). Photo by Mike Mozart, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
