Family Dollar has agreed to pay a $63 million settlement after federal and state authorities filed complaints against the company for charging customers more than amounts advertised in mailers and displayed on store shelves.
The settlement, which was announced by the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday, came alongside a same-day order, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The order seeks to prevent the retailer from continuing its deceptive pricing practices and would require it to create a “pricing accuracy program,” to be independently certified on an annual basis.
“Today’s order will ensure Family Dollar stops deceiving consumers about its prices and returns money to consumers harmed by these practices,” Christopher Mufarrige, the director of the F.T.C.’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the announcement.
The agreement is the result of a complaint filed by the commission and 17 states on Thursday, which claimed that Family Dollar had overcharged consumers “millions of dollars” since January 2023.
The F.T.C. and Family Dollar did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday. In the order, Family Dollar said that it neither admitted to nor denied any of the allegations in the complaint.
The complaint highlighted a number of cases in which customers, attracted to deals advertised digitally and in circulars, had visited their local Family Dollar store, only to be charged a higher price at checkout.
One individual in Columbus, Ohio, filed a complaint in July 2023 with the Better Business Bureau about a cereal deal that promised that the second box would cost only $1. Once at the store, the cashier “did not honor it,” the customer said, claiming that she “was not aware of such a sale.”
Another customer, in Michigan, reported in January 2025 that a store would not honor a two for $20 deal for packs of Pampers diapers, despite a discount label displayed on the store shelf, according to the complaint.
The manager “quickly removed the shelf tags,” the customer said, “and told me that the price will not be honored.”
Shoppers at Family Dollar stores in several states reported similar experiences with the Pampers two for $20 deal, according to the complaint.
“This pattern is documented across numerous state audits, consumer complaints and F.T.C. undercover purchases,” the complaint said.
Eggs, milk, cleaning supplies, laundry detergent, toilet paper, iced tea and coffee were also among the many household items noted in the complaint.
A $3.55 half-gallon of milk in Pennsylvania became $4.15 at checkout. A roll of 16 Energizer AA batteries advertised at $11.50 was rung up for $13.50 in Ohio. A bedsheet set labeled $10 in Florida was charged as $12.
Family Dollar, which was founded in 1959, has 7,000 locations across the United States and prides itself on its low, family-friendly prices, with most of its products selling for under $5.
Many customers live on “razor-thin margins,” according to the complaint, and even slight increases in price “can lead to real, adverse consequences.”
“Despite widespread consumer complaints and increasing regulatory scrutiny, Family Dollar has failed to implement adequate safeguards to prevent continued overcharging,” it added.
The $63 million settlement calls for a $40 million fund to distribute payments to customers, as well as $20 million worth of discounts, to be rolled out as a 15 percent price reduction on most items for at least two consecutive days, according to the order.
The remaining $3 million will be distributed to the 17 state plaintiffs, the order notes.
On Oct. 26, the F.T.C. and 20 states filed similar charges against another discount retailer, Dollar General.
From Jan. 1, 2019, through March 31, 2026, according to that complaint, Dollar General exhibited “pervasive and systemic pricing inaccuracies” that involved charging prices higher than advertised and displayed on labels in stores.
The retailer, which operates more than 20,000 stores nationwide, bills itself as “America’s neighborhood general store.”
Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
