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CNN SATURDAY
Interview With 'L.A. Times' Reporter Abigail Goldman
Aired February 2, 2002 - 17:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Retailers in Los Angeles County are being forced to own up to their mistakes. The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted this week to make retailers who are convicted of overcharging customers to post the information in their stores for everyone to see. The board took action after undercover investigators found 60 percent of retailers failed to charge customers the price listed on the shelf.
Abigail Goldman of "The Los Angeles Times" joins us now with a closer look at this scandal that is being investigated there.
Abigail, these investigators apparently found that in one instance, one out of 10 times they were being overcharged. Is it safe to say that, you know, the stores just possibly just made an innocent mistake? How did they know that this was intentional?
ABIGAIL GOLDMAN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Well, they don't know that it's intentional. What they do know is that it's unacceptable. In one instance in the investigation, they visited all K-Mart, Macy's and Wal-Mart stores in the Los Angeles County, and found that they were overcharged on one item 80 percent of the time. That to the county supervisors was just unacceptable.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And so, how was this red flag raised? How was it brought to their attention that this was going on?
GOLDMAN: Supervisor Gloria Molina (ph) during the holidays was overcharged at both a K-Mart and a Macy's store. She then directed the county Department of Weights and Measures to further investigate.
WHITFIELD: And so, this investigation took place over how long of a period of time? I mean, and has that investigation ended, or are they continuing it?
GOLDMAN: This was a three-week investigation, but it's not a new issue. There have been several investigations over time and across the country, and many have found similar problems. This was just the most recent one.
WHITFIELD: And these stores, how are they owning up to these mistakes made? Are they saying that these were innocent mistakes, that perhaps their signs on the merchandise just didn't necessarily coincide with the entries made in the computer? GOLDMAN: Fredricka, that's exactly what they say. And they point out that they undercharge consumers about as often if not more so than they overcharge them. Unfortunately, to an inspector, an undercharge is a red flag. It means that that store has a problem making their prices on the shelves match the prices at the register. It could mean to an inspector that that's a store that overcharges as well and they just have not caught it yet.
WHITFIELD: So any indication whether California or this county might be the trailblazer that statewide or perhaps even any federal agencies might become peaked enough, their interest peaked enough to want to launch similar investigations across the country even?
GOLDMAN: Certainly. And there have been investigations across the country. The Federal Trade Commission checked this a few years ago and found a 3.4 percent error rate when they checked nationally. So this clearly is a problem across the country, not just in Los Angeles.
WHITFIELD: And a lot of stores that will acknowledge if a mistake like this is made, sometimes they will give the item free, if the customer catches it or perhaps even give them a discount. Is that acceptable by those county standards, do you know?
GOLDMAN: It is. It is unfortunately not enough for an inspector. You still are fined and cited, and could be convicted of improper pricing. What the problem is, it's finding out where this happens. Consumers, especially at a grocery store or a discount store, often put many items into their carts, and then it can be very hard for them to remember when they see those items scanned and check out appropriately.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Abigail Goldman, for joining us from the "L.A. Times." A lesson learned: All check your receipt before you leave the store.
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