New York, NY – The city handed out nearly $400,000 in fines to grocery stores around the city last year for a slew of consumer violations, including overcharging, faulty scales and failing to properly mark merchandise.
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In a statistic more frightening than a cleanup in aisle 9, 370 of 650 stores visited by inspectors received at least one summons in last year’s sweep, authorities said.
Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz said the problem is widespread and is not being taken seriously.
“I do know that the industry is not taking the incredibly low compliance rate seriously,” he said. “Whether they’re enjoying the rewards or simply have a high tolerance for error, you’d have to ask them.”
Seventeen of the top 25 stores cited from July 2009 to June 2010 were in Brooklyn. Not one was in Queens, even though nearly as many stores were inspected in that borough, 255, as in Brooklyn, 298.
Pat Brodhagen, a spokesman for the Food Industry Alliance, which represents major supermarkets, insisted there’s nothing sinister going on. “When you have the customer counts we have, the volume of business we have and human beings behind the counter, there will be mistakes,” she said.
As an example of an unintentional error, she explained that a customer at a deli counter might be overcharged if a clerk mistakenly used heavy paper on a scale programmed to subtract the weight of lighter paper.
Brodhagen had a different interpretation of the numbers than Mintz, arguing that only a handful of markets received fines that should raise red flags.
She charged that inspectors are combing the code books and “are looking for anything. You can get to $1,000 [in fines] pretty easily.”
But Mintz said: “Any way you cut it, it’s bad news.”
One grocer told me that he got a summons for selling baby powder and charged sales tax…The powder was labled MEDICATED which has to be tax free. He never realized the word medicated because his supplier sent it by error and stock people didnt realize it…Summons for charging sales tax…
Yes the city is right but they could of given him a warning and come back to check up..
Bloomie is desperate for $$$$ and thats the price we pay for running a honest business in NYC..Wolnder why so many people are better off collecting welfare,medicaid and food stamps..because its much easier then putting up with city inspectors.
The lesson here is to be honest.
I am somewhat confused about ‘overcharging’. What does it mean? That there is price control in NYC for grocery product?
I have yet to go grocery shopping and NOT find an expired sell by product on the shelves. When you bring it to the stores’ attention they’re very good about taking the expired items off the shelves but it seems they don’t bother checking themselves they and wait until someone notices the problem before doing anything.
And there is at least 1 item that I find is charged incorrectly at the register. I always feel sorry for the people standing behind me on line because I know I’ll end up disputing the price of something and then we all have to wait for someone to go and check the price on the aisle or in the flyer and then wait for a supervisor to come and redo the pricing. It’s easier for the stores to leave it all alone and let people overpay until someone like me comes along who makes sure the charges are correct.
I’m not saying the stores are all being dishonest on purpose, but at the very least they’re being lazy and letting the consumer pay the price for it.
It’s all about raising money, NOT protecting consumers