Marin County Agencies Team Up To Fight Price Gouging

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Two Marin County agencies that typically don’t interact much have been in regular contact of late on behalf of the public good.

The Marin County Department of Agriculture / Weights and Measures (AWMs) and the District Attorney’s office worked closely to address a spike in allegations of pricing fraud amid the pandemic.

The agencies' collaboration resulted in a report validating a significant portion of the public’s complaints.

The Marin County Consumer Protection Report indicates three of the 11 price gouging complaints investigated by the AWMs staff were substantiated with findings returned to DA investigators.

AWMs inspections also uncovered other pricing violations at some of the stores examined.
When AWMs inspectors find violations, businesses receive a notice of violation.

If the violation is egregious or the business has repeatedly received the same type of violations, there would likely be a fine. The department’s goal is to gain compliance through education and outreach.

Acting AWMs Agricultural Commissioner Stefan Parnay and Inspector Raoul Wertz presented the report to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

]Parnay said most of the price gouging complaints were related to from Governor Gavin Newsom’s statewide April 3, 2020, order prohibiting businesses from increasing pricing items more than 10 percent from what they were two months earlier.

The order included emergency and medical supplies such as face coverings.

“It felt good for us to ensure people were not getting gouged, and if they were, to immediately stop the consumer harm,” Parnay said.

“In the early days of the pandemic and the sheltering orders, we responded to reports of abrupt price increases all over the county that consumers had noticed.

“Most were unsubstantiated, but it was a new frontier for us to inspect stores’ pricing for compliance with a state-wide emergency order from the governor. Employees from our two departments worked together to assist the community during this time of economic disruption and hardship to ensure consumers were being protected.”

The coronavirus crisis resulted in a decline of routine inspections, from 442 in 2019 to 345 in 2020, a 22 percent drop as inspectors complied with COVID-19 safety guidelines.

The number of consumer pricing complaints were up 40 percent, from 23 to 32.

The percentage of items found to be priced higher than they should was 4.1 percent, a 71 percent increase from a year earlier.

“Many stores offer a price accuracy guarantee and will give you something, such as a $5 gift card, if you are charged an incorrect price compared to how it’s advertised,” inspector Raoul Wertz said.

“Often that guarantee is a required part of a settlement to a lawsuit they settled over price accuracy, so be wary and always check your receipts. By law, customers are entitled to the lowest advertised or posted price for items offered for sale by a store.”

This year marked the fifth consecutive year the AWMs staff produced a Consumer Protection Report.

In a side-by-side comparison of the 2016 and 2020 reports, there has been an 80.5 percent increase in notices of violation issued, a 263 percent spike in items found to be overcharged to customers, a 162 percent increase in items found undercharged to customers, and a 13.7 percent decrease in businesses compliant with price accuracy requirements.

The department’s weights and measures inspection staff has only 3.3 full-time positions, but employees spent 6,634 hours ensuring accuracy and equity in the marke­­­­tplace and protecting the health and welfare of Marin residents.

Staff performed 8,489 inspections to ensure accuracy of measuring devices and checking the prices charged to consumers.

“While much of our workforce transitioned to telework, our staff conducted hundreds of site inspections safely while utilizing health and workplace precautions,” Parnay said.

“And like other departments, our staff contributed to the important

Consumers who believe they were overcharged, are aware of posted prices not being honored at the check-out stand, or are unable to view the prices of items when a purchase is being rung up, are encouraged to call the Agriculture, Weights and Measures consumer help line at (415) 473-7888.

Want to watch out for yourself and others more closely?

There are helpful consumer tips on the Ag, Weights & Measures website.