Carquest Auto Parts to Pay $750,000 in Civil Penalties and Costs in Civil Lawsuit Settlement
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Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch announced today that the Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit of the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office, together with the San Luis Obispo and San Diego County District Attorney’s Offices, reached a settlement with parent companies of Carquest Auto Parts (“Carquest”) to settle allegations of false advertising and unfair competition.
Carquest operates approximately 330 stores in North America with approximately 50 corporate-owned stores in California. The civil complaint, filed in San Luis Obispo County, alleged that corporate-owned Carquest stores in California charged customers higher prices at checkout than the listed shelf price, a problem often known as a “price scanner violation.” Franchisee-owned Carquest stores were not affected.
The complaint detailed evidence collected by several counties’ Weights and Measures departments over a 7- year period:
• Between 2017 and 2023, Carquest overcharged an average of 12% of the items tested.
• In 2022, the number of items overcharged increased to 14%.
• In the summer of 2023, the Weights and Measures inspectors from 20 counties inspected 43 stores, finding that 39 of the 43 stores failed the price accuracy inspection. It found that almost a quarter of the items inspected were overcharged.
Carquest settled a similar lawsuit in 2012 filed in San Diego County Superior Court. At that time Carquest paid $242,715.40 and agreed to initiate additional audits to ensure price accuracy. The current Judgment requires Carquest to pay $657,000 in civil penalties and $93,000 to cover the costs of investigation and to support future enforcement of consumer protection laws. The parent companies of Carquest also agreed to an injunction requiring them to follow price-accuracy laws.
District Attorney Savrnoch thanked the team of prosecuting attorneys, including Senior Deputy District Attorneys Morgan Lucas and Chris Dalbey, and the Santa Barbara County Department of Agriculture’s Weights and Measures Division for their work on the case. He said, “retailers are legally required to charge consumers the lowest advertised price, whether that is the price on the shelf or in an advertisement. Too often, stores charge a higher price at the register. My office is committed to ensuring that consumers can rely on retailer’s advertisements and shop with confidence knowing retailers are acting fairly and lawfully.”
Click here for a copy of the civil complaint and the stipulated final judgment.
Consumers may report price accuracy issues to the Santa Barbara County Department of Agriculture’s Weights and Measures Division, or directly to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office using the forms found here:
ConsumerComplaintFormFillable.pdf (countyofsb.org)
CCFormSPANISH_Fillable.pdf (countyofsb.org)