20 States Join FTC Suit Against Dollar General Over Price Discrepancies
Key Facts
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 20 states sued Dollar General in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, accusing it of charging higher prices at checkout than those displayed on shelves, price tags and advertisements. The commission said the practice continued for years, and that the complaint concerns the difference between the price customers see before buying and the price shown when the transaction is completed. On October 26, 2026, the commission voted 2-0 to authorize its staff to file the complaint. The commission says the case will be decided in court, meaning the allegations have not become a judicial ruling. That puts the company’s pricing practices and compliance to a legal test over the accuracy of prices displayed to customers.
The complaint draws on a record of customer complaints, saying the company received at least 29,265 complaints classified as failure to honor marked prices between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2026. Complaints came from all 48 states where the company operates, according to the commission’s filing. That geographic scope gives the case reach beyond any one location or local market, while the complaints concern the difference between the advertised price and the amount charged at checkout. The complaint does not present these figures as an independent finding about every transaction, but as part of the basis the plaintiffs cite for their allegations. The commission and the states are asking the court to consider the practices and requests set out in the suit.
The complaint also points to previous government actions concerning price accuracy. Between 2019 and 2026, Dollar General reached 7 settlements with 6 state attorneys general and consumer protection agencies over inaccurate pricing, according to the filing. The complaint says the company paid more than 6 million dollars in fines resulting from those settlements. In Ohio, the attorney general said the state sued the company in November 2022, and the parties reached a settlement a year later worth 1 million dollars that included steps to address price discrepancies. These precedents add to the background presented by the plaintiffs, but do not resolve the new allegations before the court.
The complaint highlights the size of the customer base it says is affected by pricing. According to the filing, households earning no more than 35,000 dollars a year account for 60% of the company’s total revenue, and Dollar General sells about 2,000 items priced at one dollar or less. The Federal Trade Commission describes the company as operating more than 21,000 stores across the United States and marketing itself as a low-price alternative to major discount retailers. That reach and the role of low prices make the accuracy of advertised prices central to the case, based on the facts cited by the complaint and the commission. The plaintiffs link these facts to their allegation that some customers paid more at the register than the displayed prices indicated.
The commission and the states allege that the practices violate the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and state laws. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction, monetary judgment, civil penalties and other forms of relief, while the commission lists the case as pending. The matter is part of a judicial process in which no ruling has yet been issued, as the commission has emphasized that the court will decide the case. In earlier research related to price accuracy at scanners, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce found in a 1998 study that about one in every 30 items examined was recorded at the wrong price. The commission said at the time that the errors included prices both higher and lower than the correct price, while the current case remains subject to the allegations and evidence the court will consider.