Have you ever looked at the price tag on pre-packaged pecan panko chicken at Whole Foods and thought to yourself: How the f%$k does this cost 13.95? Same.
Well, it turns out you were right to question that seemingly insane price tag. New York Daily News reports that NYC Whole Foods stores have received more than 800 violations of overcharging customers during 107 separate inspections since 2010, totaling more than $58,000 in fines.
The most recent investigation was conducted in NYC last fall by The Department of Consumer Affairs, and that inspection focused specifically on the weight accuracy of pre-packaged foods. NYDN writes,
Even if your tiny container of coconut shrimp is organic, healthy, and sustainable, it really shouldn’t cost you $20.
Screencapture via New York Daily News
DCA Commissioner Julie Menin tells NYDN, “Our inspectors told me it was the worst case of overcharges that they’ve ever seen.” And you must remember this is a grocery store chain that has been fined several times for overcharging customers.
The Union Square Whole Foods was charged with the most counts of mislabeled packages out of any grocery store in NYC since 2014. The TriBeCa location came in second, followed by the Brooklyn location. The NYDN staff picked up $100 of pre-packaged products at the TriBeCa Whole Foods and found that many of the items were mislabeled in terms of weight, and some of the mislabeling even lead to customer discounts.
Screencapture via New York Daily News
A spokesperson for Whole Foods tells NYDN that the supermarket chain “never intentionally used deceptive practices to incorrectly charge customers.” We say: Yuppie New Yorkers will overpay for anything and everything, so it probably seemed pretty damn easy to take advantage.