The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states sued Dollar General on Monday alleging that the retailer repeatedly charged customers more at checkout than the prices displayed on shelves, product labels and advertisements.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, alleges that the pricing practices persisted for years and cost consumers millions of dollars. The case remains pending, and the allegations have not been proven in court
The lawsuit follows a December 2025 investigation by The Guardian, which reported that Dollar General stores failed more than 4,300 government price-accuracy inspections across 23 states over three years. The FTC’s complaint also describes consumer complaints and state inspection results as evidence of a broader problem.
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According to the complaint, Dollar General had procedures intended to keep shelf prices consistent with register prices but did not put adequate safeguards in place to resolve recurring discrepancies. The filing says the company did not sufficiently ensure that updated price labels were actually placed on store shelves.
The Guardian reported that employees cited understaffing as an obstacle to replacing outdated labels.
The FTC’s complaint also references an interview with a former lead sales associate in Louisiana who said workers sometimes discarded price tags to avoid getting themselves or colleagues into trouble.
Federal investigators conducted undercover shopping visits at Dollar General stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Maryland, according to the lawsuit and the complaint says each visit uncovered multiple items that rang up above their displayed prices.
At one Cleveland store, eight of 58 purchased items cost more at checkout than the prices shown on their labels or shelves, an overcharge rate of nearly 14%, the complaint alleges.
Dollar General disputed the allegations and said its goal is to achieve complete accuracy between shelf and register prices at every store.
In a statement published on Monday, the company said it expects employees to correct pricing discrepancies for customers and has strengthened its price-accuracy procedures.
The company said it learned of the FTC investigation in early February 2026 after receiving a civil investigative demand dated Jan. 30.
It said it cooperated by providing more than 200,000 documents, over 350 gigabytes of data and company representatives for sworn testimony.
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Dollar General also challenged the FTC staff’s calculations for proposed consumer compensation, saying the amount sought was far greater than its assessment of the losses attributable to pricing discrepancies. The company said it attempted to negotiate a settlement and would defend itself in court.
The federal case comes days after a separate agreement in New York. On Oct. 22, state Attorney General Letitia James announced that Dollar General had agreed to a $1.875 million settlement over allegations of repeated overcharging.
The agreement also requires pricing safeguards at the company’s more than 600 stores in the state.
The FTC’s case seeks to hold Dollar General accountable for the alleged pricing practices. The court will determine whether the company violated federal or state law.