More than a third of Ohio Kroger stores reviewed in government inspection records showed pricing practices that could leave customers paying more than the shelf tag promises, according to a new report. The Center for Responsible Food Business says it examined 101 Ohio Kroger locations and found 36 of them showed practices linked to overcharging, with pricing errors that averaged more than 20% above advertised shelf prices.
The nonprofit's findings, first detailed by the Springfield News-Sun, are based on 58 failed price-verification inspections carried out by state and local officials between 2022 and mid-2026. In one Butler County case, an 18-count carton of Kroger eggs advertised at $3.99 rang up at $6.19 at the register, which an inspector attributed to a digital coupon that failed to apply.
Across the inspection records the report reviewed, officials logged 644 pricing errors overall, and the report said those mistakes favored Kroger nearly three times as often as they favored customers, according to the same account. Butler County, which has 10 Kroger locations, saw 13 of 26 price-accuracy inspections fail. Montgomery County fared better by comparison, with inspectors at Kroger stores in Dayton, Riverside, Miami Township, Vandalia, Englewood, Miamisburg, Centerville, Kettering and Huber Heights recording five failures out of 200-item audits that otherwise showed accuracy rates between 92% and 96%.
Customers Describe Shelf-to-Register Gaps
The report drew on more than 2,500 testimonials the nonprofit said it had received as of Aug. 21 from customers and other groups across Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and the Cincinnati region. Of 1,906 relevant customer accounts, 557, or 29%, described discrepancies between shelf prices and what showed up at checkout, the report found. Another 13% of accounts cited misleading signage, while 7% reported trouble accessing digital-only discounts, according to reporting from the Dayton Daily News.
One Cincinnati-area shopper said a store manager acknowledged recurring problems with digital coupons, and reported that the store was only about 79% accurate on those discounts. Another account described a Kroger in Xenia removing signage for its Scan Right Guarantee, even as the report said Kroger's corporate customer service confirmed the guarantee remains in effect and should be honored. The Springfield News-Sun noted the paper was unable to independently verify testimonials submitted through the nonprofit's website.
Nonprofit's Campaign and Kroger's Response
The Center for Responsible Food Business launched its Kroger Hurts Families campaign in May and said it now receives about 10 new customer testimonials each day through its website. The group said it has spent more than $3 million on television advertisements criticizing Kroger's pricing practices, and it shared its findings with the Ohio Attorney General's Office. Taylor Warren, speaking for the organization, said customers go to Kroger to feed their families, not to get ripped off at the register.
A Kroger spokesperson denied that the company has used, currently uses or plans to use surveillance pricing. The spokesperson said that when associates are made aware of customer concerns, they are empowered to immediately make it right, and that Kroger offers shoppers access to digital coupons through in-store materials as it looks for ways to improve the customer experience.
The Center for Responsible Food Business is calling on Kroger to honor advertised prices, make discounts easier to access, avoid charging higher prices in communities with limited grocery options, and provide clearer remedies when customers are overcharged. The group has said this report is intended to be the first in a series of investigations. The findings echo an earlier review: according to a Morningstar release citing Consumer Reports, that outlet found Kroger overcharging customers by an average of 18% across 26 stores a year earlier, with government records in the new report covering 389 total inspections and 644 incorrect prices recorded from 2022 through mid-2026.
