Report: Kroger stores overcharging consumers on discounted or 鈥榝or sale鈥� items
May 16, 2025, 7:33 AM
A QFC shopping basket is displayed. (Photo courtesy of 成人X站 7)
(Photo courtesy of 成人X站 7)
Shoppers at Kroger, one of the nation鈥檚 largest grocery chains, have been unknowingly paying full price at checkout for items鈥攊ncluding meat, vegetables, juice, rice, and alcohol鈥攖hat were advertised as discounted or on sale, according to a published report.
, in collaboration with The Guardian and the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN), reported that Kroger stores had widespread pricing errors.
The supermarket chain, which has聽聽in 16 states, has also been the target of multiple class-action lawsuits in California, Illinois, Ohio, and Utah. The lawsuits have also cited high rates of price tag errors for Kroger, according to the聽.
said it began checking grocery prices after learning that Kroger workers in Colorado鈥攚ho are currently in labor union negotiations with the company鈥攚ere alleging widespread errors on price labels.
The consumer advocacy nonprofit said it recruited people to shop at 26 Kroger and Kroger-owned stores over the past three months. That included Kroger, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Fry鈥檚, and Ralphs stores in 14 states and the District of Columbia.
鈥淲e found expired sale tags on more than 150 different grocery items that actually led to overcharges at the checkout counter, everything from beef, salmon, coffee, juice, vegetables, even cough medicine and dog food,鈥� Consumer Reports reporter Derek Kravitz聽.
Shoppers discovered expired sales labels that led to overcharges on more than 150 grocery items, including Cheerios cereal, Mucinex cold and flu medication, Nescaf茅 instant coffee, boneless beef, salmon, and dog food, according to聽.
A third of the expired sales tags were out of date by at least 10 days, and the prices of five of the products were expired by at least 90 days. The average overcharge we found was $1.70 per item, or 18.4%.
A Kroger company representative said in a statement that it is 鈥渃ommitted to affordable and accurate pricing鈥� and that it regularly conducts price checks that review 鈥渕illions of items weekly to ensure our shelf prices are accurate.鈥�
Kroger said the sales price tag errors cited by Consumer Reports were but a 鈥渇ew dozen examples across several years out of billions of customer transactions annually.鈥�
鈥淲hile any error is unacceptable, the characterization of widespread pricing concerns is patently false,鈥� the company told聽.
Kroger employees told the magazine that the reason for the pricing errors is a lack of employees. After years of staff cuts, there are not enough workers to manually change price labels on shelves. Consumer Reports noted that some stores have 鈥渢ens of thousands鈥� of price tags hanging at a given time.
鈥淚t really makes me feel bad because some of (the customers) are on fixed incomes and they鈥檙e older. They鈥檙e not going to pay attention,鈥� Joy Alexander, a Kroger employee who has worked at a King Soopers store in suburban Denver for 18 years, told聽. 鈥淭hey think that when they took it off the shelf, it was $2.50. They don鈥檛 know that they鈥檙e paying $3.75 for that one item.鈥�
When the job of updating sales tags doesn鈥檛 get done, consumers are 鈥渒inda left in the dark,鈥� Alexander said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e paying for.鈥�
As part of the聽, Consumer Reports said it found shoppers were overcharged on average $1.70 per sales item, or 18.4% more.
The report, citing data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said that Kroger has 鈥渟ignificantly cut鈥� the number of workers and the hours full- and part-time employees work each week.
In the Kroger-owned stores where聽聽found significant price tag errors, the average number of employees between 2019 and 2024 was reduced by 10.3%. The average number of hours worked decreased by 9.9%.
In stores where there were fewer or no price tag errors, the average number of employees fell by 6.2% and hours worked dropped by 9.3%.
A Kroger company representative disputed that labor hours have been reduced. The company added in a statement that it 鈥渋ntentionally staff(s) our stores to keep them running smoothly while creating an enjoyable place to shop.
鈥淥ur staffing decisions are data-driven to balance workload and schedules,鈥� the company said in its statement.
In a statement, Kroger said its 鈥淢ake It Right鈥� policy 鈥渁ddresses any situation when we unintentionally fall short of a customer鈥檚 expectations.鈥�
罢丑别听聽allows employees to fix price discrepancies on the spot, on a case-by-case basis.
According to complaints聽聽reviewed and shoppers who were interviewed, Kroger employees work quickly to correct pricing errors when they are pointed out.
滨苍听聽to LiveNow from Fox, a Kroger spokesperson called the allegations 鈥渕isinformation.鈥�
鈥淭he Consumer Reports allegations boil down to misinformation, reviewing a handful of discrete issues from billions of daily transactions,鈥� the statement聽. 鈥淚t in no way reflects the seriousness with which we take our transparent and affordable pricing.鈥�
