November 26, 1999
Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm
has sued J.C. Penney Co. for consistently high error rates in its
point-of-sale scanning systems.
"Clearly, 'buyer beware' will be the
rule this holiday season. Receipts are one set of lists consumers
should be sure to check twice," Granholm said.
The suit charges that J.C. Penney's error
rates were more than 33 percent at four stores -- compared with rates of
3 percent at Mervyn's and Kohl's. A spokesman said the
overwhelming majority of the errors were in the store's favor, not the
consumer's.
Granholm said the failure to post correct
pricing information amounted to an unfair or deceptive commercial
practice, thus violating the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.
The suit asks the court to order J.C.
Penney to adopt procedures to eliminate overcharges. It also seeks
fines of up to $25,000 per day and restitution for consumers.
At one store the error rate was 61 percent,
with 88 percent of the errors favoring the store, the spokesman
said.
The suit grew out of Granholm's 6th annual
scanner accuracy survey, which included 19 retail stores throughout
Michigan. The survey found an overall scanner error rate of nearly
17 percent, with 85 percent of the errors being overcharges.
"Overcharging customers certainly
won't win you any customer service awards," Granholm said.
"Well-known, well-respected national retailers should care about
their customers enough to ensure that they're getting the price
advertised."
"Kohl's and Mervyn's should be
applauded for not having overcharged a single customer in this year's
survey," she said.
Industry analysts said Wal-Mart, Jewel and
Safeway also have good reputations for scanner accuracy, with Wal-Mart's
error rate often below 0.5 percent.
At Jewel, a shopper's purchase is free if
it rings up erroneously. |
