联邦贸易委员会与17州达成6,300万美元和解：Family Dollar 被指结账价常高于货架价
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）11月12日宣布，折扣零售商 Family Dollar 将支付6,300万美元，就该委员会与17个州提出的指控达成和解。指控称，这家连锁店长期在结账时向顾客收取高于货架、价签与广告所标价格的金额，让消费者损失了数百万美元。
拟议命令禁止 Family Dollar 对其商品或服务的价格作不实陈述，并要求该公司建立一套定价准确计划，接受独立评估并逐年认证。按命令，Family Dollar 须设立4,000万美元的消费者赔偿基金，向符合条件的消费者付款；另设2,000万美元的顾客折扣计划；向各州支付的款项超过300万美元。公司还须在门店与数字平台显著张贴通知，告知顾客赔偿资格。
FTC 消费者保护局局长 Christopher Mufarrige 表示，委员会致力于确保价格透明与公平，让消费者能作出知情选择，这项命令将确保 Family Dollar 停止在价格上欺骗消费者，并把钱退还给受害的消费者。
诉状称，全美数以千计的 Family Dollar 门店多收了顾客的钱，其中包括缺少全服务杂货店的低收入社区，且公司在已被警告后仍未改正。过去五年，州与地方监管机构已就数以千计的价格违规对 Family Dollar 开罚，罚款超过300万美元；过去三年，该公司已与多州总检察长及消费者保护机构达成多项和解，为定价不准支付逾80万美元罚款。诉状还称，该公司网站与手机应用标价也出现结账价更高的情形，其 Smart Coupons 优惠因应用故障无法在结账时兑现，消费者就同类问题已向公司投诉六年。
委员会以2票对0票批准提起诉讼与拟议最终命令，案件已提交弗吉尼亚东区联邦地区法院。FTC 表示，今年10月26日已就类似定价问题起诉 Dollar General，该案仍在审理中。
（来源：美国联邦贸易委员会）
FTC and 17 States Secure $63 Million Settlement With Family Dollar Over Register Prices Higher Than Shelf Prices
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced on November 12 that Family Dollar will pay $63 million to settle allegations by the FTC and 17 states that the discount retailer routinely charged customers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, price tags and advertisements, costing consumers millions of dollars.
The proposed order prohibits Family Dollar from misrepresenting the price of its goods or services and requires the retailer to establish and implement a pricing accuracy program that is independently assessed and annually certified. Under the order, Family Dollar will establish a $40 million consumer redress fund payable to eligible consumers and a $20 million discount program for its customers, with payments exceeding $3 million also made to the states. The company must notify customers of their redress fund eligibility by clearly posting notices in its stores and on its digital platforms.
Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the FTC is committed to ensuring price transparency and fairness so consumers can make informed choices, and that the order will ensure Family Dollar stops deceiving consumers about its prices and returns money to consumers harmed by the practices.
According to the complaint, thousands of Family Dollar stores nationwide overcharged shoppers, including in low-income communities with limited access to full-service grocery stores, while failing to correct the issue despite being warned. In the last five years, state and local regulators cited Family Dollar for thousands of pricing violations, resulting in fines exceeding $3 million; in the last three years, the company entered multiple settlements with state attorneys general and consumer protection agencies, paying over $800,000 in penalties for inaccurate pricing. The complaint also alleges the company charged more at the register than prices listed on its website and mobile app, and that its Smart Coupons discounts often could not be redeemed because the app did not work, a problem consumers have reported to the company for six years.
The Commission vote authorizing the complaint and stipulated final order was 2-0, and the case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The FTC noted that in a related complaint filed on October 26, 2026, it and state partners sued Dollar General Corporation for similar deceptive pricing practices, and that litigation is ongoing.
(Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission)
来源：美国联邦贸易委员会
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：联邦贸易委员会（FTC）总部 Apex 大楼，位于华盛顿特区。Carol M. Highsmith 摄，公有领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Apex Building, headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
