Not surprisingly, the New York Daily News story about alleged overcharging by Whole Foods started off with “Rip-off on aisle four.”
The newspaper reported that New York City officials launched a probe of Whole Foods after investigators claimed the eight city stores routinely overcharged customers for groceries during dozens of inspections dating back to 2010.
According to the story, inspectors from the Department of Consumer Affairs weighed 80 different types of items and found that every label was inaccurate, with many resulting in customers being overcharged.
Although Whole Foods wasn’t the only offender, it was the most egregious one, according to Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin.
Initially, Whole Foods said they disagree with the city’s findings, but in a video released this past week by Whole Foods Co-CEOs John Mackey and Walter Robb, the two execs admitted to mistakes, saying that some customers had been accidentally overcharged for sliced fruit, fresh squeezed juices and sandwiches by workers who made errors. They claimed that mistakes were made both in the customer’s favor and in the store’s favor.
Commissioner Menin said her inpectors described the mistakes as “the worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers,” and said they found only a few instances where customers actually benefited from underpriced food.