29,265 complaints: Wisconsin joins 20-state suit against Dollar General

Wisconsin is one of 20 states that sued Dollar General on Monday, alleging the discount retailer routinely charged shoppers more at the register than the prices displayed on shelves, tags, and advertisements.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, claims the company has known about the pricing discrepancies for years and failed to correct them, costing customers millions of dollars.

According to the 95-page document, Dollar General received at least 29,265 customer complaints categorized as “Did Not Honor Marked Price” between January 1, 2023, and March 31, 2026. These complaints originated from all 48 states where the company operates.

Federal Trade Commission investigators conducted undercover purchases at stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Maryland between January 16 and April 1, 2026. The complaint states that every single one of these transactions resulted in the register charging more than the advertised price for multiple products.

The states argue that Dollar General’s internal procedures create the problem. The company changes prices weekly, and employees are instructed to swap shelf labels during a five-hour “Compliance Tuesday” shift. Because most price changes are increases, shoppers often pay the higher register price before the shelf tags are updated. The complaint asserts that stores are often “too thinly staffed” to print and place the new labels in time.

The document cites a news article sent to the company’s CEO, featuring a former assistant manager in Illinois who said: “You’re lucky if you get to work two to four hours of your eight-to 13-hour shift with another human being.” The complaint notes that Dollar General has settled seven state cases with six attorneys general and consumer protection agencies since 2019, paying more than $6 million for pricing errors.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said in a news release: “The prices that folks see displayed when they’re shopping should be the same as the prices they’re charged when they check out. If the prices charged in the checkout aisle are higher than the prices on the shelves, there should be accountability.”

Dollar General responded in a statement, arguing that the lawsuit suggests the company has abandoned its mission to provide affordable goods. The retailer stated its goal is 100% accuracy between shelf and register prices and said its store teams are expected to make things right when discrepancies occur. The company also claimed the FTC demanded a monetary amount in pre-litigation talks that was “untethered to, and orders of magnitude larger than, any realistic assessment of amounts attributable to pricing discrepancies.”