Kroger overcharging scandal
Watch out for this Kroger overcharging scandal! Kroger didn’t even need to use artificial intelligence to perpetrate this scam on customers — just old-fashioned printing of expired prices, which were then “corrected” at the checkout counter.
According to the investigation, “some items jumped by as much as 60 percent.”
Who looks at the register slip on the way to the parking lot? Only those people who want to be sure that they were charged the same price they saw in the weekly ad or on the very shelf where they picked up their grocery item.
It takes a cynical and user-hostile frame of mind to take this kind of advantage of customers. Clearly, this is not just an oversight or “the dog ate my homework” kind of callousness.
There’s a pattern here, too. Kroger management doesn’t just prey on customers. Public records indicate that the CEO of the company “earns” over $15 million per year — some 502 times as much as the average employee compensation. (The mathematicians out there will look at the subtle reporting method, since that figure is actually the “mean” compensation, not average — which means that half of the Kroger employees are paid less than $32,000 per year. Who can live on that much, well below the official poverty line?) Thanks to the following website for compiling this data! https://aflcio.org/paywatch/KR
What a relief that the proposed Kroger acquisition of Albertson’s/Safeway was prevented by the antitrust folks at the FTC! (FWIW, there’s no assurance that the managers at Albie’s are not pulling the same scam, but they haven’t been in the headlines – yet.) Take a look at our past article on this topic: https://molierecitations.com/kroger-and-albertsons-hope-to-merge-but-must-face-a-skeptical-us-government-in-court-first/
The Molière Citation is awarded to the management at Kroger stores, with a warning to customers to check your register tape before leaving the store. It may be inconvenient, but it will be more costly to Kroger to have you claw your money back from them at their service desk!
Photo: ChatGPT (OpenAI) based on a user prompt. Not an actual photograph.
Infographic created by ChatGPT based on 2023 CEO compensation data from the AFL-CIO (aflcio.org)