Walmart deceptive pricing settlement overview:
- Who: Walmart has agreed to pay a total of $5 million to Colorado and Nevada.
- Why: The settlement resolves claims Walmart injured its customers in the two states by having a price discrepancy between its shelf prices and actual checkout prices.
- Where: Colorado and Nevada.
Walmart Inc. has agreed to a $5 million settlement to resolve claims the company engaged in deceptive pricing at its retail locations in Nevada and Colorado.
The settlement, which was reached outside of court, puts an end to allegations that stemmed from an investigation that discovered a discrepancy between the shelf and checkout prices of products sold at Walmart.
Colorado and Nevada will receive a total of $3 million and $2 million, respectively, from Walmart due to the company’s alleged failure to make sure consumers were paying the same price while checking out as was listed on the shelf, Law360 reports.
“All retailers have a duty to ensure the price their customers pay at the register is the same one they see on shelves,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said, in a statement last week.
Colorado has said it plans to use its share of the settlement funds to help fund food pantries and other programs that are in place to support individuals with low incomes, according to Law360.
Walmart employees blamed for discrepancy in shelf, checkout prices
The attorneys general from Colorado and Nevada first noticed discrepancies in checkout and shelf prices in Walmart in 2022, following investigations by the states’ respective agriculture departments, according to an assurance of discontinuance between Colorado and Walmart.
Walmart employees have been deemed responsible for the discrepancy in pricing by allegedly failing to manually update shelf prices after accepting price changes on a handheld device that automatically changed prices at the register.
“The mismatch between methods by which prices are updated — electronically at point-of-sale; manually on shelves — can create price inaccuracies,” the assurance of discontinuance states.
Walmart locations in Colorado failed nine out of 17 inspections in total from between March 16, 2022, and July 1, 2022, while four locations in Nevada failed inspections following nine separate investigations in the northern part of the state, according to Law360.
A consumer filed a separate class action lawsuit against Walmart in October 2022, claiming the company uses its point-of-sale system to artificially inflate the weight of products priced by their weight.
Another consumer filed a class action lawsuit against Walmart in August 2022, similarly arguing the company used shelf prices that failed to correctly represent how much the products would cost at checkout.
Have you paid more for an item at Walmart than its shelf price indicated? Let us know in the comments.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
- Judge recommends awarding Amazon $425K in trademark infringement lawsuit
- Lindt class action over heavy metals in dark chocolate dismissed
- Amazon faces lawsuits over Prime subscriptions, discounts; Senate investigates labor practices
- Bose announces recall for Acoustimass, Lifestyle, Companion bass modules due to fire hazard
