Commissioner Fried, FDACS Announce Price Verification Sweep Completed Ahead of Holidays

Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced that Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Division of Consumer Services inspectors recently completed a price verification sweep to ensure that the advertised price for holiday specials matched the scanned price that rings up at the register. FDACS inspectors also checked that advertised gas prices were calculated accurately at the pump.

“As Florida’s consumer protection agency, protecting Floridians at the cash register and the gas pump is one of my department’s top priorities,” Commissioner Fried said. “I’m proud of my team for completing this price verification sweep so that consumers know they are getting the deals they’ve been promised as they go about their holiday shopping and aren’t being overcharged when filling up their tanks ahead of any holiday travel.”

In addition to verifying the accuracy of prices on fuel pumps at random locations along major travel corridors, FDACS inspectors reviewed holiday sale ads and randomly selected over 9,400 items for testing at locations across the state to ensure accurate pricing. Any stores advertising a holiday sale could be part of the price verification sweep, including but not limited to department, grocery, hardware, and toy stores.

Twenty-three retail locations failed to meet pricing accuracy standards due to pricing errors. The incorrectly priced items were immediately removed from sale until the errors were resolved. Pricing errors were found on pumps at 18 service stations. Pumps with errors were closed until corrections were made.

Standards adopted by FDACS require accurate pricing on 98 percent of items tested for a retailer to pass inspection. FDACS inspectors use the Examination Procedure for Price Verification (EPPV) established by the National Conference on Weights and Measures. The EPPV is a nationally adopted inspection procedure that provides regulatory officials with the test procedures to monitor and evaluate the pricing accuracy of any store.

For Consumers: FDACS is the state’s clearinghouse for consumer complaints, information and protection. When in doubt, consumers should contact FDACS — all consumer complaints will be investigated. To file a consumer complaint, visit FloridaConsumerHelp.com or call 1-800-HELP-FLA or 1-800-FL-AYUDA (for Spanish speakers).

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