Wal-Mart to pay $1.5M fine to settle price claims in Mich.

[UpInArms]

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BE02AE9E1%2D1B51%2D494F%2DBB8D%2DCE7EA1D6601A%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT
45.57, -0.25, -0.5% ) has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle claims it violated Michigan's item pricing law, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said Monday. Under the settlement, Wal-Mart will pay $780,000 in penalties and reimbursement of costs incurred by the state. Additional penalties of $620,000, to be deposited in a separate account, will be used to pay for independent audits and will be waived after two years if the store maintains item pricing compliance, the attorney general said. The retailer also agreed to donate $100,000 to Michigan food banks.

...short blurb...

background:

Michigan Challenges Wal-Mart on Item Pricing

"Consumers in Michigan have a right to know the cost of an item when they go shopping," Cox said. "That means stores have a duty to follow the law and label prices on individual items. The results of my office's investigation are clear: Wal-Mart has failed to comply with Michigan's item pricing law on a massive scale."

Five Wal-Mart stores were audited: Okemos, Howell, Roseville, Saginaw and Coldwater. The highest estimated compliance was found at the Okemos store (75%). The Saginaw store had an estimated compliance rate of 25%. The Roseville, Coldwater and Howell stores all had estimated compliance rates of 20%.

"Marking prices on only 20 percent of items is shocking and inexcusable. And when multiple stores fail to comply with Michigan's item pricing law, it becomes more than just a store manager problem. It is a Wal-Mart problem," he said.

"Michigan's law is clear: price items individually, so consumers can shop and compare. This legal action against Wal-Mart will improve their item pricing and cause other retailers to do the same," Cox added.

[expatriot]

1. $100,000 to food banks? I'm sure MI Wal-Mart employees received more than

$100,000 worth of food from food banks last year.

These fines should be multiplied by 20 at least. It should be 35 million dollars in penalties and another 30 million put in that account for future audits.

[barb162]

2. that's a very teeny little fine for that place

[justice1]

3. That's a common practice with stores locally.

I have found so many stores that have done it. Years ago I learned by lesson by grabbing items not marked, it was sticker shock at the register. My theory is, if a store doesn't mark the price, they are charging more than average for the product.

[warrens]

4. This is a reaction against shelf-pricing

Retailers want to save money on price tags and having to replace them every time they change a price. So far, very reasonable. The problem comes when you compare the price you paid to the price on the shelf, difficult when you are at a register half a mile away. If they want shelf pricing, they better make sure mistakes favor the customer, not the retailer. But as anyone who has ever gone shopping knows, mistakes always favor the retailer.