Staples Settles Lawsuit on Customer Overcharges

Staples Inc., a national office supply retailer, has agreed to pay $375,000 to settle a lawsuit filed against it for allegedly overcharging California customers with checkout scanners.

The Framingham, Mass.-based company Tuesday agreed to pay a civil penalty of $343,200 and $31,800 in investigative expenses for the 19 counties and the state agency involved.

The civil suit alleged Staples engaged in unfair business practices when checkout scanners in its California stores rang up higher prices than advertised for some products.

“There clearly was no intention to overcharge or to try to overcharge our customers,” Staples spokeswoman Jennifer Rosenberg said. “This had occurred as a result of a system error and some other factors.”

The retailer also agreed to establish safeguards, which include designating an employee at each California store to become a “price auditor.” The duties include conducting regular audits and correcting pricing errors.

Staples also will post a sign at each store telling customers that if an item scans at a higher price than listed on the shelf or on the product, it will fix the error and deduct $3 from the product’s price, court documents said.

Shares of Staples fell 3 cents to $20.08 on Nasdaq.