REPORT: Popular Idaho Grocery Brand Secretly Overcharging Customers

Over the past few months, there hasn’t been a day when the word “tariff” hasn’t been used on Idaho’s local newscasts. The constant rolling out and rolling back of tariffs has left Idahoans a little bit confused and on edge about how they will impact their family’s spending. 

One thing that many economists seem to agree on is that it’s a matter of “when” not “if” the impact of tariffs will be passed on to consumers. Walmart recently shared on an earnings call that despite their desire to keep their prices low, they can’t absorb all of the impacts of the tariffs as a company. As a result, they will be raising prices on certain items toward the end of May and into June. 

READ MORE: A Popular Idaho Grocery Store Admits to Price Gouging

Microsoft recently raised the price of several models of the Xbox consoles, accessories and games. They called the decision challenging, but said they carefully considered the given “market conditions.”

Most companies that have had to make these difficult decisions expressed that they want, more than anything else, to keep their products affordable for customers. That might be why I was so surprised to see an article from Consumer Reports about a grocery brand that’s well-known in Idaho overcharging customers. 

Consumer Reports Reveals That Kroger Has Been Overcharging Customers

On May 14, Consumer Reports published an investigative piece that they’d been working on for months. They became aware of allegations from Kroger employees in Colorado that the “widespread errors on price labels” were resulting in customers being overcharged for a variety of products throughout the store. The issue was apparently linked to expired sale price tags being displayed throughout the store.  

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Consumer Reports wanted to independently verify the allegations, so they assembled a team of “secret shoppers” and sent them into 26 Kroger and Kroger-owned stores, including Fred Meyer. After collecting information from secret shoppers across 14 states, Consumer Reports was able to confirm that the expired sales tag allegations were true. 

Their team found expired sales tags on more than 150 items. Most of them expired by at least 10 days, but some expired by nearly three months. When they looked at the receipts, their shoppers were paying about $1.70 more per item than they thought they were when they selected it from the shelf shelf. 

When confronted about the findings, a Kroger representative told Consumer Reports that the errors the secret shoppers found were a “few dozen examples across several years out of billions of customer transactions annually” and said they were quick to remedy these sorts of mistakes when they learned about them. 

The employees that Consumer Reports talked to say that alleged staffing cuts are what’s driving the errors. There aren’t enough employees or hours to get all the tags switched. The company has reportedly empowered their cashiers to make it right if a shopper complains at checkout.

Problems at Fred Meyer Stores Reported in the Pacific Northwest

They close their findings by saying that about half of the stores their shoppers visited had price tag issues and it was happening throughout every region. While Idaho was not specifically mentioned, two of the examples they used to illustrate their point were from Fred Meyer stores in our region. 

On April 3, a shopper picked up six “Happy Tot Oatmeal Puddings” at a Fred Meyer in Eugene, Oregon. The advertised price on the tag was six for $10. They were charged $11.94, because the sale expired on March 4. 

On April 12, a shopper went to a Fred Meyer in Bothell, Washington and purchased “Simple Truth Pink Himalayan Salt & Pepper Flavored Pistachios” which they thought were on sale for $2.49. They were charged $4.99 because the sale had ended four days prior. 

While Kroger denies that they have “widespread pricing concerns,” the report is pretty eye opening and if nothing else, should make you double check the sale tags the next time you’re at Fred Meyer so that you’re not surprised when you get to checkout.  

Kroger was also accused of “price gouging” in 2022. The allegations came to light during the failed merger attempt between Kroger and Albertsons.