Call Kurtis: Walmarts Across The Region Have Spotty Pricing Inspections
SUISUN CITY (CBS13) — A viewer says she caught her local Walmart overcharging her, several times, and called on Kurtis Ming who found inspection reports for stores across the region.
After bringing the overcharged food items to the attention of the Suisun City Walmart staff a third time, Jocelyne von Strong says she's feeling ignored. She sent CBS13 photos proving it: a two-pack of cream cheese advertised as $2.00 but a receipt that says $2.88.
"Well, frankly, I think there should be an investigation," she said. "I don't think that just going to them and saying 'hey, there's a problem' is working."
So that got us wondering, how often is Walmart overcharging their customers?
CBS13 reached out to the Weights and Measures department of Solano County, the office that's supposed to keep stores honest with their pricing, to find out if they'd had any problems with the Suisun city Walmart in the past.
Turns out, the store failed two of the last four price verification inspections since 2018. And countywide, the department says Walmarts failed six out of ten inspections in the same time frame, which could result in fines.
But, a spokesperson noted, Solano County only conducts price verification inspections when a complaint about store has been submitted.
In Yolo County, where the inspections are routine, Walmarts have been caught overcharging in five out of the last 15 inspections since 2017. Three of those violations were so significant, the store was fined.
Sacramento County also conducts routine inspections and says Walmarts have failed five of the last 52 price verification inspections the department has done since 2019.
It's always good to know that if you catch yourself getting overcharged, complaint to your county's weights and measures department, it could lead to an inspection, fines or even a government lawsuit.
We reached out to Walmart and a spokesperson explained that the company is "always working to keep up with pricing changes," an issue driven partially by inflation. In addition, the spokesperson noted that every store deals with thousands of barcodes each day, so sometimes one falls through the cracks.