Kmart Corp. has been fined $35,120 by the state for problems with inaccurate scanning of prices.
Nine of 32 inspected stores from the chain failed random state sampling, with three or more of 50 items per store scanning at the wrong price, officials said.
The stores were in Madison, Ft. Atkinson, Appleton, West Bend, Wausau (two stores), Ripon, Hartford and Hudson.
Scanners enable a computer to read a black-and-white bar code that indicates an item’s price.
In the scanning errors, the number of overcharges and undercharges were nearly equal, state officials said. The average overcharge was $2.85 and the average undercharge was slightly less than a dollar.
“We saw a pattern of problems,” said Bill Oemichen, Trade and Consumer Protection administrator.
In many cases, the problems resulted because store employees had problems matching prices and inventory. Sixty-five percent of the overcharges appeared to have been caused by errors in the stores’ central price scanner computers.
But 75 percent of the Kmart stores inspected violated state law by not posting signs informing consumers of their right to a refund if scanner prices are more than advertised prices.
