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 Thursday.
Although Home Depot cooperated in the investigation, it did not admit to any wrongdoing, according to prosecutors.
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 District Attoney Pamela Price's office.
The judgment was filed in the San Diego Superior Court, as the Alameda County DA's Office's Consumer Justice Bureau was working alongside the District Attorneys 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 quarter-million dollars of the civil penalty payment and about $14,000 to reimburse the Alameda County Department of Agriculture and Weights & Measure for investigative costs.
