More businesses undercharged than overcharged in AZ last year

PHOENIX - More businesses in Arizona charged less than the advertised price of an item than those who overcharged, according to a new inspection report from the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures .

The department conducted more than 2,500 unannounced inspections of cash registers and price posting at businesses throughout the state last year and found that there were 1,384 instances where businesses charged less than their advertised price for an item.

That added up to $21,440 in undercharges in favor of the customer in 2011, according to a news release from the department.

While the vast majority of businesses used cash registers that scanned correctly, there were also 861 instances in which a business charged more than their advertised price for an item, which totaled $5,717 in overcharges last year.

Federal guidelines require that all items for sale must scan at the advertised price and be marked with a price on or near the item.

When the department checked for accurate price posting at more than 1,500 businesses last year, inspectors found that nearly 5,000 items were incorrectly marked or not marked with a price at all.

Though the majority of prices were posted correctly, the department issued 153 price posting violation notices out of the 1,576 locations inspected statewide.