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Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Settle with Connecticut on Pricing Violations

July 19, 2006

Wal-Mart • General Complaints • Black Friday • Customer Service • Dangerous Products, Conditions • Grocery/SuperCenters • Lawn & Garden • Monogram Credit Card Bank • Pet Department • Pharmacy • Photos • Pricing Disputes, Errors • Returns • Sporting Goods • Tire & Lube • Vision Center • WalMart.com --- • Employees Complaints --- News • Wal-Mart Selling Bassinets Blamed for Killing Two Babies • Wal-Mart Gaining On Grocery Chains • Black Friday Ads Target Wal-Mart • Wal-Mart Era Is Over, Wall Street Journal Declares • Consumers Respond to Toxic Wal-Mart Pet Toy Stories • Wal-Mart Expands $4 Generic Program • Lab Tests Find Lead, Other Toxins in Pet Toys Sold at Wal-Mart • Wal-Mart Plans Its Own Debit Card • Wal-Mart To Open In-Store Health Clinics • Wal-Mart Gives Up Bank Plans • Congressman Challenges Wal-Mart Banking Plans • Wal-Mart Expands Generic Drug Plan • Christmas Returns to Wal-Mart • Wal-Mart Jump-Starts the Holiday Shopping Season • Wal-Mart Cuts Generic Rx Prices To $4 In Florida • Wal-Mart Ending Its Layaway Program • FDIC Puts Retailers' Banking Plans on Hold • Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Settle with Connecticut on Pricing Violations • Congress May End Wal-Mart's Banking Dreams • Arizona Charges Wal-Mart, AutoZone with Consumer Fraud • Michigan Fines Wal-Mart $1.5 Million for Item Pricing Violations • Opposition Grows as FDIC Examines Wal-Mart Banking Bid • Wal-Mart's Banking Plans Draw Critics • Michigan Challenges Wal-Mart on Item Pricing • Wal-Mart May Stock "Emergency" Contraceptives • Black Friday Gives Wal-Mart a Black Eye • Connecticut Probes Wal-Mart Pricing • Wal-Mart Pushing Extended Warranties on Electronics • Bankers Oppose Wal-Mart's Entry into Banking • Wal-Mart Target Of Union-Led Boycott • Wal-Mart to Pay $14.5 Million for California Gun Law Violations • Wal-Mart Target Of Union-Led Boycott • Wal-Mart Tries to Buff Its Image

The state of Connecticut has reached an agreement with Wal-Mart, settling item and unit pricing violations at six retail locations. Wal-Mart will pay the state $37,150 to settle the allegations, while making no admissions of wrongdoing.

"We are pleased to reach this agreement with Wal-Mart," said Consumer Protection Commissioner Edwin R. Rodriguez. "Connecticut's pricing laws are in place to ensure a fundamental marketplace principle -- that consumers can make informed purchasing decisions based on cost, quality and convenience."

Thirty-five Wal-Mart and/or Sam's Club locations in Connecticut were inspected by Consumer Protection agents in recent months as part of routine economic compliance checks conducted by the agency.

Six of the inspected stores were accused of violating unit pricing regulations, and two of those were cited for item pricing violations. The affected Wal-Mart stores are in Bristol, New Britain, Norwalk, Southington and Wallingford, as well as the Sam's Club in Berlin.

Unit pricing is a term that identifies the true "per-unit" cost of items that are sold in multiple size packages. For example, when comparing the price of a product sold in a larger volume size (such as a gallon of liquid detergent) with a smaller container of the same product, the larger size will usually have a lower per-unit price than the same detergent sold in a smaller size.

Item pricing refers to Connecticut's requirement that stores affix a price to each item of a "consumer commodity" -- an item that is designed to be "used up," such as a carton of milk, a package of soap, or a roll of plastic wrap.

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