Family Dollar to pay $63 million settlement after Utah and FTC allege the company overcharged its customers

SALT LAKE CITY — Family Dollar will pay a $63 million settlement to resolve allegations that the company charged customers more at checkout than the prices advertised on shelves, price tags and advertisements.

Utah – along with Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin – have joined the Federal Trade Commission in filing a complaint against the dollar store giant.

“When money is tight, every dollar counts. Utah families should not have to worry that the price at checkout is higher than the price they saw on the shelf. This settlement puts money back in consumers’ pockets and helps ensure that shoppers get the prices they were promised,” Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in a statement.

The complaint alleges that thousands of Family Dollar stores used “deceptive pricing practices” for years to overcharge customers by charging more at checkout than what was listed elsewhere, including prices listed in company mailings, its website and mobile app.

“Family Dollar charged consumers higher prices at checkout than advertised prices, betraying the trust of millions of American consumers who rely on Family Dollar for essential household items and daily necessities and imposing significant financial harm on communities that can least afford it,” the complaint states.

Family Dollar operates more than 7,000 stores across the country, including 55 in Utah, according to its website.

The complaint says many of these 7,000 locations are concentrated in areas that Family Dollar itself classifies as “food deserts,” meaning residents lack access to full-service grocery stores, making Family Dollar one of the only accessible sources of food and basic household items.

Since 2023, Family Dollar has collected millions of dollars in illegal overcharging, the complaint claims, adding that the company has failed to resolve the problem despite thousands of failed inspections, hundreds of consumer complaints and multiple enforcement actions.

Under the proposed order, Family Dollar:

• Put $40 million into a fund to reimburse eligible customers
• Fund a $20 million reduction program for its customers
• Pay more than $3 million to states
• Post notices in its stores as well as on its website and app informing customers that they may be eligible for payment
• Stop distorting the prices of its goods and services
• Implement a pricing accuracy program that regularly audits its prices, trains employees to detect pricing errors, and corrects errors promptly. An independent evaluator would review the program and the company would certify it annually.

In 2025, Dollar Tree sold Family Dollar to private equity firms Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management for just over $1 billion.

“Shoppers deserve to have confidence that the price they see on the shelf or in an advertisement is the price they pay at checkout,” Utah Department of Commerce Commissioner Margaret Woolley Busse said in a statement. “We are proud to return money to customers who have been deceived, and we hold Family Dollar accountable for ensuring that integrity and pricing transparency are priorities in their retail practices.”

In another complaint filed in October, Utah, the FTC and a handful of other states sued Dollar General for similar deceptive pricing practices, overcharging consumers and failing to correct the problem despite warnings. This dispute is ongoing.