{"id":1004,"date":"2015-06-27T06:16:41","date_gmt":"2015-06-27T13:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/?p=1004"},"modified":"2015-06-27T06:16:41","modified_gmt":"2015-06-27T13:16:41","slug":"whole-foods-under-investigation-for-ripping-customers-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/?p=1004","title":{"rendered":"Whole Foods Under Investigation for Ripping Customers Off"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<div class=\"article-header\">\n<p>\u00a0 \u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/brokeassgourmet.com\/images\/1277.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"319\" height=\"214\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Virtually every company out there has been charged with overpricing at some point or another. \u00a0 \u00a0Usually it&#8217;s not intentional, but more likely just a result of low staffing as it&#8217;s not always possible to make sure that every single shelf label in the store is accurate.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-style: normal;\">This, however, seems intentional. \u00a089% of packages not being labeled accurately is RIDICULOUS and shows a blatant lack of respect for your customers. \u00a0Whole Foods has such a &#8220;healthy&#8221; and &#8220;classy&#8221; image that they&#8217;re the last company that you&#8217;d think would be doing something like this. \u00a0 I hope the fines are hefty and it gets them to clean up their act once and for all.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1><span class=\"subtitle\" style=\"color: #333333;\">INVESTIGATORS: WHOLE FOODS HAS BEEN RIPPING EVERYONE OFF<\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"item-meta no-credit\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"nodeContent\" class=\"node-content\">\n<div class=\"read-more-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"node-body\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"slide1\" class=\"slide main show-fullscreen slide default-item\" data-index=\"1\" data-image-id=\"1502490\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Just last month, the poor masses (i.e. millennials) rejoiced when Whole Foods announced it&#8217;d be <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thrillist.com\/eat\/nation\/whole-foods-opening-cheaper-stores\" target=\"_blank\">opening cheaper stores<\/a>. But now comes news that&#8217;s not really news: Whole Foods has been overcharging customers all along. This time, though it&#8217;s official.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">New York&#8217;s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) issued a press release Wednesday detailing &#8220;<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www1.nyc.gov\/site\/dca\/media\/pr062415.page\" target=\"_blank\">systemic overcharging of pre-packaged foods<\/a>&#8221; at all the city&#8217;s Whole Foods locations. Which is to say, you&#8217;re not just overpaying when you splurge for herbs de Provence or a jar of <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thrillist.com\/eat\/nation\/whole-foods-expensive-foods-whole-foods-stories\" target=\"_blank\">$10 artisanal pickles<\/a>. The investigation tested meats, dairy products, and baked goods at Whole Foods stores around the city, but focused on &#8220;packages that had been labeled with exactly the same weight when it would be practically impossible for all of the packages to weigh the same amount,&#8221; such as nuts, berries, vegetables, and seafood. Basically, all the stuff you love at Whole Foods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The numbers look bad, too. DCA tested 80 different packages, and 89% failed to to meet federal standards. The most egregious overcharge billed $14.84 (!!!) extra for a package of coconut shrimp. TL;DR: don&#8217;t eat coconut shrimp. Unless you&#8217;re Donald Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cOur inspectors tell me this is the worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers, which DCA and New Yorkers will not tolerate,&#8221; DCA Commissioner Julie Menin said. &#8220;As a large chain grocery store, Whole Foods has the money and resources to ensure greater accuracy and to correct what appears to be a widespread problem\u2014the city\u2019s shoppers deserve to be correctly charged.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Damn straight.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The investigation focused on the eight Whole Foods locations open in fall 2014, with inspectors following up in the winter. It appears Whole Foods will have a hefty bill on its hands, as first violations cost a store $950, while subsequent violations cost $1,700. But it&#8217;s not just a recent thing. According to a Freedom of Information Act request received by the New York Daily News, the city&#8217;s Whole Foods stores have received more than 800 violations since 2010, amounting to upwards of <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/new-york\/exclusive-foods-faces-city-probe-overcharges-article-1.2268695\" target=\"_blank\">$58,000 in fines<\/a>. Additionally, the chain had to pay <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/atty.lacity.org\/stellent\/groups\/electedofficials\/@atty_contributor\/documents\/contributor_web_content\/lacityp_028443.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">$800,000 in fines in 2012<\/a> for similar violations in its California stores.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here&#8217;s to hoping the chain fixes the problem and earns a better derisive nickname: Half Paycheck.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 Virtually every company out there has been charged with overpricing at some point or another. \u00a0 \u00a0Usually it&#8217;s not intentional, but more likely just a result of low staffing as it&#8217;s not always possible to make sure that every single shelf label in the store is accurate.\u00a0 This, however, seems intentional. \u00a089% of <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/?p=1004\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retail-companies"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1004"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1006,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions\/1006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}