LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The State of Nevada has reached a $2 million settlement with Walmart.
According to attorney general Aaron Ford, it's due to the company's alleged violations of the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act. That happened due to price discrepancies between what was posted on store shelves and prices at the cash register.
His office states Walmart employees would accept price changes on a handheld device that would immediately change the price at the register but would require a different machine to print the new price labels for shelves. For a "variety of reasons", the labels weren't placed on the shelf at the same time as the price change.
The state Department of Agriculture conducted nine inspections of Walmart locations in northern Nevada for price discrepancies and Walmart failed four of them.
"After receiving several consumer complaints about Walmart stores in northern Nevada, our consumer protection team took action," Ford said. "Companies must ensure that a product's shelf price is the same as the register price. This ensures transparency and enables consumers to make informed decisions on which products to purchase."
Walmart officials said the company has implemented new policies including additional price change training, a requirement that the employee changing the price be physically present in the location of the item which is being repriced, and a limitation on labels employees can print at one time.
They add they will also implement electronic pricing on shelves and conduct quarterly inspections of 10 random stores in Nevada and Colorado to ensure these changes adequately reflect the shelf and register price for goods.
