One of the largest pharmacy chains in the country agreed to pay a $1.4 million settlement and reimburse certain customers at the checkout counter after Santa Clara and other counties filed a lawsuit accusing the store of overcharging consumers, according to District Attorney’s office staff.
Walgreens, which has 625 stores in California, failed to make sure the prices on its store shelves matched the prices charged at the cash register, a press release from the D.A.’s office said.
In addition to the $1.4 million settlement, Walgreens stores will soon offer a “scanner price guarantee” to compensate consumers who find discrepancies at the time of checkout, the press release said.
If a customer tells the cashier that the price rung up is more than the advertised price for an item, the customer will receive a $5 deduction, a $5 gift card, or gain the item for free if its cost is less than $5, the press release said.
“Our office brings actions such as this to assure that merchants have policies and procedures in place to fulfill their obligations to sell merchandise at the advertised prices,” D.A. Jeff Rosen said.
Walgreens did not admit wrongdoing in the case, but cooperated with prosecutors during the investigation, the D.A.’s office said.
