CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than 50 North Carolina stores were fined by the state for overcharging customers due to price scan errors, including the Target in Charlotte's University City area, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced.
In total, state regulators fined 52 stores in 33 counties due to price-scanner errors that resulted in overcharging customers at checkout. The violations were found during periodic, unannounced inspections to check for accuracy between advertised prices and what gets rung up at the register.
Stores are penalized for failing follow-up inspections. In addition to the fines, stores with violations will be subject to inspections every 60 days until meeting the 2% or less error rate threshold.
The following stores in the Charlotte area were fined for overcharging customers:
Anson County
Family Dollar at 909 East Caswell Road paid $8,910 in fines after an initial inspection found a 30% error rate in March 2022. Inspectors found a 12% overcharge rate in October.
Catawba County
Dollar General at 3131 South NC Highway 16 paid $2,040 in fines for a failed inspection. The store had an error rate of 18% in September. That rate was reduced to 9.67% in October with 29 overcharges in a 300-item lot. The store passed inspection in December.
Mecklenburg County
Circle K at 3434 Matthews-Mint Hill Road paid $3,155 for two failed inspections in September and November. An initial inspection in August 2022 showed an error rate of 20%. The store will be re-inspected.
Family Dollar at 7921 Old Statesville Road paid $15,000 in fines. The store had an error rate of 40% in March 2022 and failed subsequent inspections from June through October. The store was assessed an additional $5,000 fine for failing an inspection in December.
Dollar General at 10018 Albemarle Road paid $5,000 in fines for two failed inspections. State officials found an error rate of 16% in November and will reinspect the store.
Target at 8120 University City Boulevard paid $2,715 in fines. The store had an initial error rate of 10% in September. The store failed its most recent inspection in December based on 14 overcharges in a 300-time lot and was given an additional $2,960 fine.
Rowan County
Dollar General at 335 North Salisbury Avenue paid $8,675 in fines after inspectors found a 16% error rate in August 2022. The store failed three follow-up inspections before passing in December with a 1.33% price scan error rate.
Stanly County
Dollar General at 138 NC Highway 740 paid $990 in fines for a failed inspection in August. The store had a 32% error rate. A follow-up inspection found an error rate of 3.67%. The store passed its most recent inspection in January with 1% errors.
Family Dollar at 103 North Main Street in Norwood paid $18,740 in fines. The store failed six inspections, including five follow-up visits between February and November. The initial inspection found an error rate of 16%.
Union County
7-Eleven at 304 Unionville-Indian Trail Road paid $390 fines for failing inspections in September and November. The store will be re-inspected.
Walmart at 2520 Cuthbertson Road paid $1,830 in fines. The store failed an initial inspection in August with an 8% error rate. The store also failed a follow-up inspection in September before passing in November.
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