Whole Foods execs apologize for overcharging

Hadley Malcolm | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Whole Foods execs apologize for overcharging Whole Foods executives apologized via a blog post and video this week after New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs alleged they had been routinely mislabeling packages with the wrong weights. Hadley Malcolm reports.

Whole Foods top executives said they "made some mistakes" in a video posted to the company's blog after an investigation in New York City claimed the high-end grocery chain consistently overcharges for prepackaged food.

"Straight up, we made some mistakes, we want to own that," co-CEO Walter Robb said alongside co-CEO John Mackey.

The video was also posted on YouTube earlier this week.

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs released the results of an investigation on June 24 that alleged the area's Whole Foods stores had consistently listed improper weights on prepackaged food, resulting in overcharges from 80 cents to nearly $15 an item. The department tested 80 product categories across the eight Whole Foods stores open at the time (one more has since opened).

Robb said in the video that the mislabeled weights are "unintentional" and have resulted in incorrect prices that are sometimes in the customers' favor. He also said the errors are "inadvertent" and happen "because it's a hands-on approach to bringing you the fresh food."

In the blog post, the company disputes the department's claims that it systematically overcharges customers. But said "we apologize to our customers for any discrepancies that may have occurred."

DCA Commissioner Julie Menin issued a statement saying her department is "gratified ... Whole Foods is admitting the deficiencies in how they label their prepackaged foods." She also said the DCA "will remain vigilant and hold Whole Foods and other supermarkets accountable for any misleading and deceptive practices."

Menin said last week that Whole Foods could face fines for thousands of violations of mislabeling prepackaged goods. According to the DCA, the fine for a first violation of improperly labeling packages is as much as $950 and up to $1,700 for subsequent violations. Fines are assessed per type of food.

Robb and Mackey outlined steps the company plans to take to ensure pricing accuracy, including increasing training in stores across the country, implementing a third-party auditing system and reporting initial results back to customers in 45 days. The two also promised to give full refunds if a customer finds a product mislabeled.

Watch the full video here: