Wal-Mart, AutoZone sued by state (Arizona)

[Catshrink]

The country's largest overall retail chain and the largest retailer of auto parts were hit with consumer-fraud lawsuits in Arizona on Thursday for refusing to comply with state pricing laws.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard filed lawsuits in Maricopa Country Superior Court against Wal-Mart and AutoZone for consistently failing to list accurate prices on their shelves or for failing to post them at all.

"Consumer purchases are not games of chance," Goddard said. "Arizona law makes it very clear: Consumers have a right to know what they're being charged, and they have a right to accurate pricing on the product. Violations of those rights are very damaging to consumers in our state."

<snip>

"Neither company has ever appealed these fines," Goddard said. "We come to the inescapable conclusion that they simply consider the fines in Arizona for illegal pricing as simply a cost of business."


http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0707consumersuits0707.html

The article also says that once a company has failed an inspection, there is a reinspection in 60 days. The fines are a result of the reinspections -- and the store managers knew the inspectors were coming.

I wonder if this is deliberate or just a result of having such huge inventories and humber of products that they physically can't keep track. Whatever -- I'm glad Goddard had the jewels to go after Sprawl-Mart.

[napi21]

1. Autozone doesn't have that big of an inventory! And WM, although

it has a LOT of inventory, has the MOST sophisticated tech system in the World! I'm POSITIVE both businesses simply consider the fines to be a COB!

GOOD for the AZ AG for filing suit! Maybe THIS time the fines will be big enough to have a positive effect!

[fasttense]

2. Thanks for posting this Catshrink.

"In Arizona, prices do not need to be marked on every item for sale, but they need to be clearly posted where the product is displayed. And the price posted on the shelf should be the same price that appears on the customer's receipt when it is scanned at the cash register."

I thought that is how it was suppose to work in every state?


"Inspectors from the state Department of Weights and Measures routinely check both points by taking samples of 250 products to make sure prices are posted and also samples of 50 items to make sure they are properly marked. Stores must be at least 98 percent in compliance or they fail. Then they are subject to reinspections within 60 days.

Since 2001, according to figures provided by the Department of Weights and Measures, Wal-Mart has failed 526 of 976 inspections, or nearly 54 percent, at various stores across the state. AutoZone has failed 426 of 846 inspections or 50 percent, statewide.

Goddard said more than half of the violations against both companies were on reinspections, when store managers knew inspectors were coming."

This 54% error rate on the price can not be simply human error. It is intentional. Error should run about 10 to 20% not 54%. Be ware Wal-Mart shoppers, check the price and then check your receipt. It looks like it is company policy to cheat the consumer.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Massachusetts held on to item pricing regulations until recently

precisely so that the consumer would be able to track price marked against scanned price at the register.The law required that the store honor the lower price, sticker vs. scanned.

It's a huge savings for retailers to use only shelf pricing. If they want to continue to enjoy those savings they need to keep the pricing consistent from shelf to checkout.

[Catshrink]

4. I wonder if they'll use as an excuse

the fact that they have those price scanners in the stores. They could say, "Well, if the item isn't priced, the consumer can always check it at the scanner." They are still in violation of state law, but this excuse might help Sprawl-Mart's claim.

But -- 50% error is way too high. It's either extremely sloppy business or a deliberate flaunting of the law.

God how I hate Sprawl-Mart.

[Sydnie]

11. wow, how did I miss that we stopped requiring that?

I know how irritating it can be not to have an item priced or even a shelf price, but I didn't realize that Mass is not requiring it any longer. When did that happen?

[Catshrink]

12. It's amazing what they can get away with...

Consumers have got to be on their toes to keep from getting cheated.

[havocmom]

6. If management figures fines are less than paroll for manhours

to get the shelves marked and kept accurate, they will play the game.

[AndyTiedye]

5. Some of those "Always Low Prices" Are Too Low to Be Real

Turns out, they aren't real after all, but you don't find that out
until you get to the register, and then only if you remember the
displayed price of every item.

[niccolos_smile]

8. That's because it's a crap product...

They're lowest priced items are usually the Wal-Mart brand, which is not exactly high quality, or even good quality.

[lpbk2713]

7. That's what I like about Target.

They have bar code scanners in several places throughout the store where you can scan an item and get the same price the checkout register would ring up.

[B Calm]

9. I hope Auto Zone with their anti union philosophy gets sued big time!

Did you know that they make their employees give the Auto Zone cheer before starting a meeting!

[Catshrink]

10. I think a lot of retailers have a cheer...

I think Sprawl-Mart does and I know CompUSA does. Rah rah go team. As for anti-union, is anyone worse than Sprawl-Mart?