Story and searchable database: Inspectors find price overrings at 30 percent of stores checked

You could be paying too much.

New figures today from the state Department of Weights and Measures shows that at 30 percent of the stores checked, more than one item in a typical 50-item basket rang up at a price higher than what was posted on the shelf.

That's even assuming there is a price on the shelf, something required by law: State inspectors said one out of every three stores had multiple items where there was no way for customers to know how much they were supposed to be charged in the first place.

Some of the worst offenders appear to be electronics stores: Four of the 10 worst companies are places where consumers would go to purchase pricey items: CompUSA, Best Buy, Circuit City and Fry's Electronics. Other top offenders include Pep Boys, Toys R Us, Home Depot and Target.

Inspectors typically pick up 50 items at a store, note the prices and bring them to the registers. Stores with more than one price overring fail.

At Fry's Electronics, state inspectors said stores failed eight out of 11 times. And the 25 items that rang up too high totaled out to $167 -- an average of $11.45 too much that customers would pay.

The situation was similar at Circuit City, which failed seven out of 10 scanner accuracy inspections. And CompUSA failed six out of nine times.

At the other extreme, inspectors said they found no items ringing up at higher-than-posted prices at Ross Dress for Less and Costco Wholesale. And neither chain failed the price-posting inspection.

Jackie Foreman, a spokeswoman for Circuit City, said she could not say why her firm's stores company failed so many inspections. She said, though, the company will work to improve compliance.

Calls to other chains were not returned by deadline.

Until 1993 state law required every product offered for sale to have a price on it. Retailers said that made no sense with the use of bar code scanners.

Current law requires prices to be posted on or near each display, and for the price at the register to match the one on the shelf.

This year's report shows that even more stores failed to comply with that law than last year. That 30 percent failure rate comes even after stores get a "courtesy inspection" -- one that doesn't count even if they fail and are given another chance to get it right.

Steve Meissner, spokesman for the Department of Weights and Measures, said the biggest offenders appear to be the largest stores with thousands of items where managers claim it is "too difficult" to keep the posted prices and those in the cash register computers up to date.

But Meissner said other stores manage to comply with the law.

He said some hire people whose sole job it is to ensure that prices are correct -- and customers are not being overcharged. But that, said Meissner, costs money.

"Some people might think it's cheaper to pay the fine," he said.

Those fines can add up: In the 12 months covered by the report, Wal-Mart paid $210,350; Home Depot was second at $80,650.

And where fines have not worked, the state has filed suit against Wal-Mart and AutoZone. Attorney General Terry Goddard charges both stores with consumer fraud and seeks penalties of $10,000 per violation -- penalties he said could add up to millions of dollars for "systematic fraud against the consumers."

Both companies are fighting the lawsuit which has yet to go to trial.

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