John Mackey and Walter Robb, co-CEOs of Whole Foods, apologized to customers in a video filmed in the sliced fruit section of one of their grocery stores. The investigation also found a few cases where the company was undercharging customers.
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The CEOs urged people to double check that they were rung up for the appropriate item and said if it was revealed they were overcharged, they would get the product in question free of charge.
And, just last week, New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs said its investigators found that Whole Foods stores in the city “routinely overstated” the weight of prepackaged contents and overcharged customers.
“We apologize to our customers for any discrepancies that may have occurred”, said the company in a blog post.
In the YouTube video, Mackey said there was a “very small percentage” of weighing errors with items made in stores, including sandwiches, fresh juices and cut fruits.
“We know they’re unintentional because the mistakes are both in the customers’ favor, and sometimes not in the customers’ favor”, said Robb. The company announced that it will increase training across the country, including the city of New York.
The overcharging ranged from 80 cents for a package of pecan panko to $14.84 for a package of coconut shrimp, the agency said on June 24. These allegations were rejected by the company last week.
Last year, Whole Foods agreed to pay $800,000 in penalties – and improve pricing accuracy – after an investigation into alleged pricing irregularities in California.
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“Our inspectors tell me this is the worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers”, DCA commissioner Julie Menin said at the time. These accusations included not deducting container weights at salad bars and providing less weight than what was stated on labels of items sold.
