Wal-Mart penalized $2.1 million for overcharging California customers

Bentonville, Ark. -- A state attorney for California said Wednesday that Wal-Mart has agreed to pay a $2.1 million penalty for overcharging customers in the state.



Wal-Mart is being penalized for charging prices higher than those posted, violating a 2008 judgment for it to halt the overcharging.



A lengthy investigation revealed that Walmart stores in 11 California counties made checkout scanning errors that left customers paying more than the listed prices. The investigation, which launched in November 2010, was a follow-up to the 2008 judgment, in which 164 stores in 30 counties were found to have overcharged customers.



As a result of the latest judgment, Wal-Mart will be required to post signs describing the policy in English and Spanish at every checkout counter in all 180 of its California stores, and the company will designate a person at every store to ensure pricing accuracy.