Dollar General overcharged customers, will donate $1.9 million to Foodlink

The office of State Attorney General Letitia James found that Dollar General has been routinely overcharging customers in New York. As a result, the retail chain will donate nearly $1.9 million worth of food and personal items to a nonprofit, according to a news release by the office.

An investigation by James' office has concluded that Dollar General, which has nine locations on Long Island, will donate $1.875 million worth of food and other products to Foodlink, the office announced Thursday. The Rochester-based organization disburses millions of pounds of food annually, according to its website. Besides food, some of the products Dollar General will donate include diapers, baby wipes, laundry detergent, dish soap, shampoo and deodorant.  

The investigation into Dollar General began after James' office received numerous consumer complaints about the retail chain charging consumers more than the prices advertised, according to the release. This is a violation of state law, which says retail stores must be sure the price charged is "equivalent to the lowest advertised, written, posted or marked price offered," the release said.

James' office conducted a secret shopper investigation in western New York as part of their intervention, the release said.

A representative for Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"When New Yorkers see a sale price advertised on the shelf, they should be able to trust that they’ll be charged that same price at the register," James said in a statement.

The office also concluded that Dollar General's receipts contained varying formats of prices, requiring customers to calculate the final price after discounts and promotions were applied.

Dollar General will now roll out changes to its policies and procedures to assure that consumers "are not charged more than the lowest price, whether the lowest price is the advertised price, the price on the shelf or the price charged at the register when shopping at Dollar General stores," the release said.

Dollar General reported a net income of $550.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, an increase of 33.8% compared with $411.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. 

The first Dollar General store opened in Springfield, Kentucky in 1955. The company went public in 1968 for $16.50 a share. There are now nearly 500 Dollar General stores in New York State, according to the retail chain's online store locator.

On Long Island, Dollar General has stores in Lindenhurst, Amityville, Bellport, Ronkonkoma, Coram, Shirley, Middle Island, Miller Place and Rocky Point.

By Rachel Weiss

rachel.weiss@newsday.com@RachMWeiss

Rachel Weiss joined Newsday in 2016. As a real estate/living multimedia reporter, Rachel writes feature stories and contributes to and appears in on-camera video packages. She was the lead reporter on Newsday’s LI Acts of Kindness series.