Mar 25, 2008 6:40 pm US/Eastern
Consumer Watch: Shortchanged At The Grocery Store
With Cost Of Food Rising, CBS 2 HD Uncovers Supermarkets Accused Of Price Gouging
OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (CBS) ―
Families are paying record high prices every week to feed their families. It's the worst it's been in 17 years, and despite those high prices, you may be getting shortchanged every time you shop and never know it.
CBS 2 HD has learned of several supermarkets that are tipping the scales even more in their own favor.
Milk is up 17 percent, pasta 13 percent and eggs -- a whopping 25 percent -- over last year.
But what's worse than supermarket sticker shock is the idea that some stores may be overcharging consumers while giving them less.
"We've collected $300,000 over the last year in violations," said Dennis Druzsba, special counsel for the Middlesex County Department of Consumer Affairs.
Inspectors regularly patrol supermarket aisles to make sure shoppers get what they pay for. But not everything is as it seems. A Shop Rite in Old Bridge, N.J., has been fined four times in the last year for weight violations.
"They double up the package weight," Druzsba said.
So customers are overcharged-- by paying for the weight of the packaging, and getting fewer products.
"It could be accidental, but it could be on purpose too," said Bob Colonna of the Middlesex Department of Weights and Measures.
So CBS 2 HD went to Shop Rite to find out why they've been fined four times in the past year for overcharging customers.
"It's not like that, I have no comment," Old Bridge Shop Rite manager Mark Emmons said.
But customers did have something to say about the shortchanging.
"This is a real stick in the back," one customer said.
The owner further explained via the phone, saying that "some of the products we were fined for came pre-packaged from manufacturers and they have agreed to pay these fines."
But nobody is paying the consumer back, since we're not weighing our groceries when we get home.
Although Shop Rite stated they would refund any customer who brings this to their attention, this type of nickel and diming frequently goes unnoticed and unreported.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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