In a 2013 lawsuit, Koster accused Deerfield-based Walgreens of charging more than the advertised price on some items.
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“Walgreens continues its shoddy business practices, putting the burden on consumers to ensure they are being charged the right price”, Koster said.
The company faces fines of up to $5,000 for every expired tag discovered during the recent inspections, plus an additional penalty for every day that an expired tag is found to be hanging in a store in the future, Koster’s office said. “We believe that your marketing system is set up in a negligent format”, Koster said during a news conference on Tuesday. An investigation launched in July of this year found more than 1,300 expired tags in 49 stores across the state. Koster alleges that hundreds of tags were weeks past the expiration date and two had expired two years earlier. Under that agreement, Walgreens said it would remove tags within 12 hours of their expiration.
An investigation by his office found that stores throughout Missouri are still displaying expired tags, despite a court order to resolve the problem.
The company issued a statement later Tuesday, saying it stands behind the independent audits of its sites as called for under last year’s deal.
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As part of the 2014 agreed to order, consumers are also entitled to Consumer Vigilance Awards from Walgreens when they are overcharged at the register because there is an incorrect or expired tag which shows the wrong price. Of 205 items purchased by investigators, 43 had price discrepancies ranging from a few cents to $15, Koster said.
