FTC and 20 States Sue Dollar General Over Alleged Pricing Discrepancies

Exterior of a Dollar General store in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. — hattiesburgmemory / Flickr via Wikimedia Commons; cropped to 1280 × 720. CC BY 2.0.

Summary

The FTC and 20 states filed a complaint against Dollar General in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on Oct. 26, 2026.
The complaint alleges the company received at least 29,265 complaints about marked-price discrepancies from 2023 through March 2026.
Dollar General did not immediately respond to comment requests from Reuters or AP; the case remains for the court to decide.

A new multistate lawsuit

The Federal Trade Commission and 20 states sued Dollar General Corporation on Oct. 26, alleging that customers were repeatedly charged more at the register than prices displayed on store shelves, product tags and advertisements. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The FTC says it authorized the filing after concluding it had reason to believe the conduct violated the law; the agency also emphasizes that the case will be decided by the court. The filing is an allegation, not a court finding.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

The states joining the FTC are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. The agency says Dollar General operates more than 21,000 stores nationwide. The states bring claims under their own consumer-protection laws alongside the federal allegations.^{[1] [3] [4]}

What the complaint alleges

The complaint describes a pattern in which advertised or posted prices allegedly did not match what customers paid at checkout. It says Dollar General received at least 29,265 complaints categorized as “Did Not Honor Marked Price” between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 31, 2026, with complaints recorded in all 48 states where the company operates. The complaint characterizes those reports as evidence of widespread harm; that remains the plaintiffs’ assertion, not a finding by the court.^[2]

The filing also recounts four undercover purchases by FTC investigators in Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Maryland in early 2026. In each purchase, the complaint says, multiple items rang up at a different price than the posted price; it describes both overcharges and undercharges, with a net overcharge in each example. Those specific accounts are allegations in the complaint and have not been tested through a court ruling.^[2]

Earlier enforcement cited

The FTC and states allege violations of the FTC Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and state laws. The complaint says Dollar General entered seven settlements with six state attorneys general or consumer-protection agencies between 2019 and 2026 over inaccurate pricing, paying more than $6 million in penalties. Reuters also reported that the new lawsuit cites consumer complaints, state inspections and undercover shopping by the FTC. These references provide context for the plaintiffs’ case; they do not establish liability in this new lawsuit.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The plaintiffs seek a permanent injunction and monetary and other relief, according to the complaint’s title and requested remedies. The filing does not itself award refunds or penalties, and the court has not ruled on the claims. The lawsuit is at the complaint stage, so the court process will determine how the allegations are resolved.^[2]

Company response and next steps

Reuters reported that Dollar General representatives did not immediately respond to its request for comment. The Associated Press likewise reported that the company did not immediately return its request. Neither report included a company statement addressing this federal complaint, so the available immediate response is limited to the outlets’ accounts of their comment requests.^{[3] [4]}

The FTC’s notice says the complaint was filed because the commission had “reason to believe” the named defendant was violating or was about to violate the law, and that a court will decide the case. As of the filing announcement, the public record cited here documents the plaintiffs’ claims and requested relief—not a determination that Dollar General violated the law. The allegations should therefore remain attributed to the FTC and the states unless and until the court makes findings.^{[1] [2]}

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