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Home Depot has entered a stipulated judgment of nearly $2 million to settle a civil complaint that alleged the company took part in false advertising and unfair competition practices, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said.
The complaint alleged Home Depot regularly charged customers higher prices than its advertised or posted prices. This issue, where the price on an item or shelf tag doesn’t match what is charged when scanned at a register, is called a “scanner violation”, prosecutors said last week.
Although Home Depot cooperated in the investigation, it did not admit to any wrongdoing, according to prosecutors.
Home Depot will have to pay $1.7 million in civil penalties, $177,251 in costs to cover the investigation, and $100,000 to support future consumer protection law enforcement.
The stipulated judgment prohibits Home Depot from advertising falsely and charging an amount greater than the lowest price posted for an item. Home Depot will be required to implement and maintain a Price Accuracy Program, which includes additional price and employee training and prohibiting price changes on weekends, when employees responsible for changing price tags are usually not working, according to DA Pamela Price’s office.
The judgment was filed in the San Diego Superior Court, as the Alameda County DA’s Office Consumer Justice Bureau was working alongside the DAs of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and Sonoma counties on the case. The investigation was initiated by the multiple counties’ departments of Weights and Measures.
Alameda County will receive more than $283,000 of the civil penalty payment and about $14,241 to reimburse the Alameda County Department of Agriculture and Weights & Measure for investigative costs.
