The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that PetSmart has agreed to pay $1.46 million for overcharging customers, false advertising and unfair competition.
It’s the outcome of a multi-county lawsuit that includes court orders prohibiting the company from engaging in false or misleading advertising and charging an amount greater than the lowest price posted for an item.
The settlement requires PetSmart to implement additional audit and price accuracy procedures in its California stores for three years to ensure compliance with pricing accuracy requirements, including notifying customers of their right to be charged the lowest currently advertised price for any item offered for sale.
“The law in California is clear: businesses must be accurate in charging for goods and services,” Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton said in a statement. “For customers, it’s important to monitor items scanned at a register and scrutinize your receipts to make sure you are not being overcharged.”
PetSmart will pay $1.25 million in civil penalties, $100,000 in restitution to support consumer protection enforcement efforts, and $110,000 for investigative costs incurred by various counties.
The DA’s office said PetSmart has implemented new policies and procedures to improve pricing accuracy with routine audits, detailed record keeping, and in-store signage to notify customers about the lowest advertised prices.
The lawsuit was filed in Santa Cruz County. In addition to Contra Costa, other plaintiffs include Sonoma, Alameda, Marin, San Diego, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties.
Deputy District Attorney Bryan Tierney prosecuted the case for Contra Costa.
County residents who think they have been overcharged by a business can contact the DA’s office DA-ReportFraud@contracosta.
24 comments
And the lawyers keep all the money, nothing for the customers who were ripped off.
Now do the same with Safeway. They are thr worst at not applying discounts to purchases.
Safeway is so bad at this, when I confront them, they don’t even review it, they just take my word for it and issue a refund.
@WC Legend. Several years ago, a Safeway cashier short-changed me $50 or more. It is my understanding that it wasn’t the cashier’s first time short-changing someone. A couple of months later, I stopped seeing that cashier working at the store.
At a different Safeway, back 20+ years ago, a Safeway employee was arrested during his shift because he was changing prices and not scanning “purchases” that his family/relatives were making. These are two of many examples of why we can not have nice things and one of many reasons why prices are so high.
We costumers are always getting ripped off.
My dad and I shopped here for our dogs. Good store but always thought they were priced high and not the nicest place for pet supplies.
So does any money go to the consumers (victims)? I’m sure they have records of members and their transactions.
@T-Rex. Sure, but what about those who don’t have a PetSmart membership to track their transactions and only paid with cash?
Maybe their penalty should be to lower their prices all across the board.
Why doesn’t this sate go after the oil companies and gas stations.They are the biggest offenders of this already.Because the politicians are getting plenty under the table.Make some changes that will benefit the tax paying citizens.Stop hitting the small businesses and get the big ones.
Yeah that’s great… how about Diana keep common street criminals behind bars that is certainly more pressing than a retail shop “over charging” their customers
You are right! My main concern is our safety in public and while shopping. Not at the store overcharged me 25 cents.( and yes I do watch for that!)
Being overcharged is hardly a safety issue & safety is more pressing than your 25 cents or mine
Prices have been going and going up I can’t afford it
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https://youtu.be/UoyWSRBvS5I
The only noticeable results will be higher costs to customers to recoup the losses.
I’ve been boycotting PetSmart for several months, ever since they had the wrong price for an item on the shelf and told me I had to pay the higher price that was scanned at the register, because “We have to go buy the price the register rings up because that’s the most up to date price.” They lost my business over a couple of dollars.
By law all stores must give it to you at the shelf price,and this happens to me alot at Foodmax,and they give me the right price BUT NEVER correct the problem on the price tag.
Intentional,esp at the Clayton Rd store.
When will they learn the shelves are always stocked incorrectly. It is up to the consumer to realize perishable products. Any customer or employee can accidentally misplace an item, leaving the next patron the misguided fortune to discern. I’ve had critters attach themselves to me and follow me out the door. They don’t like to be couped up in the store either.
ON DA,
.
The item was stocked correctly. I even took a picture of the tag and showed the employees that the UPC on the photo of the tag matched the UPC on the item. They didn’t care! They insisted it was company policy to only sell the item for the price it rang up at the register, because that was the most up to date price..
No,the product is in the right place,you are somewhere else.After buying the same product several times and seeing the price tag is the same ,I know they didnt correct it in their register so i take a photo of it and show it to their (highly skilled) employee and by law they must give it to me at shelf price.
And didnt say anything about perishable.
Shelf items with price tags.
People dont get mixed up in the produce or meat/dairy section.
You are somewhere else it seems.
WHEN WILL THEY LEARN,
.
PetSmart employees didn’t care about the law. I was given the choice between taking the item at the price it rang up at the register or not purchasing the item.
The Black Knight there are always glitches in computer systems.
ON DA,
.
The item rang up as being on sale, so they raised the regular price, and the sale price was for multiple items. The tag on the shelf was the previous regular price, which happened to be less than the individual sales price for purchasing multiple items. To be clear, the individual price of one item at the sales price was higher than the previous regular price.
Well then, no wonder the cashier cannot make heads or tails on a situation like this.
They have a sign at their stores that says”no by products in any food we sell”.Then if you read the product,it has by-products,and when you ask the employess,they give you a BS story that those arent really by-products described on the pet food,it mean something different,and it’s a just a misunderstanding.
It is always the people get cheated and the government makes money. Funny how that works.
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