Officials from the city's Department of Consumer Affairs are warning shoppers to keep their eyes peeled at checkout.
City Proposes “Shop Act” To Combat Overcharging
Officials from the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs are warning shoppers to keep their eyes peeled at checkout.
DCA officials say the chances of being overcharged in the city have increased in the last year.
Its latest round of inspections of nearly 2,000 grocery stores, released on Thursday, found 1,160 had some type of pricing issues.
“We are finding repeated violations from failing to put the prices on the item as required by the law, charging too much at the register,” said Jonathan Mintz, commissioner of the department.
No specific type of store emerged from the study. Inspectors found violations in corner mom and pop grocery stores as well as large supermarket chains.
“The supermarkets charged as part of DCA’s enforcement sweep now face almost $1 million in city fines,” said Mintz.
The commissioner believes it will take more than city fines to prompt greater accuracy, however.
On Thursday, he announced the Shop Act, a proposed regulation that would hit stores in the cash register immediately if an item rang up for more than the correct price. A wrongly priced item would be free, and the consumer would receive 10 times the amount of the error on the spot.
So, a $1 overcharge would allow a customer to leave with the free item and a $10 bill. If the store refuses to pay, customers could complain to the DCA.
Similar regulations exist in Michigan and Connecticut. The commissioner believes a pricing policy like that in New York would have a dramatic effect on accuracy at the checkout.
“Supermarkets should not be profiting from the overcharges, they should be paying for them,” said Mintz.
EA shadchan 2012
I read the article now, and I have something else to say:
I expect to see people with their magnifying glasses bent over at Kahn’s trying to spot a pricing error or at Kol tuv trying to spot a price.
Bahahahahaha…
Baha
checkout
if anything this should be done at empire kosher…
magnifying glass
just report them its that simple. and you won’t need one.
Kol Tuv
Why doesn’t Kol Tuv have any prices on any items???
empire kosher
in crown heights ill be rich if this law passes
disgruntled shopper
Personally I cannot wait until this passes. I find it utterly ridiculous that Kahn’s (biased because I was just there) and many stores do not list the prices of items. This isn’t only a New York problem, the Kosher stores do the same thing in LA. Very annoying.
Bagel Store
I’ll make $2.50 every time I buy a bagel with cream cheese at Crown Bagels. His sign still says $1.75, but he makes people pay $2.00, claiming “the price went up.”
awacs
“Why doesn’t Kol Tuv have any prices on any items???”
Probably because the chances of them getting cited are miniscule, and the fines tiny, and the labor cost of tagging the items large, and – if the there’s no prices on the items – there can’t be an overcharge, right?
awacs
So, is it mesira to report the stores to DCA? if so, how are we supposed to get the law enforced? Summons to Din Torah?
EA shadchan 2012
@ Bagel store. Your math stinks. Dont you want to please open a store?
@ea shadchan
Thanks for the laugh! You ought to double check yourself before you go putting others down. 10 x the overcharge (.25} = $ 2.50.