More Complaints of Price Gouging Being Investigated Says State Attorney General

Earlier we told you about the problem in Georgia of price gouging during this COVID-19 pandemic.

This week President Trump issued an Executive Order to protect all Americans against hoarding and price gouging, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said his office will be working with federal enforcement partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts to monitor this evolving situation.

Carr said this week he’s getting more complaints about price gouging from consumers.

“Our office has received a little over 255 complaints of price gouging,” he said. “Those have been food and water, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and other disinfectants. We’re also seeing an uptick about complaints of eggs, meat, and other commodities. We look into each and every one of those.”

Carr said consumers who believe they have been charged higher-than-normal for groceries or other products and services because of the COVID-19 crisis, should send that information to the Attorney General’s office.

“There’s a two-pronged approach here. We need folks to contact us and let us know about price gouging at consumer.ga.gov or at 404-651-8600. We encourage people to take pictures of receipts or the price tag to let us know,” he said.

The President’s order also includes hoarding unnecessary quantities of items for the purpose of selling them above the fair market value.

And Carr said his office is getting complaints against online consumers as well.

“We’re also seeing price gouging that’s occurring online. I have to commend the private sector. We’ve been partnering with eBay, Walmart, Amazon, Publix, Chevron, and others, including the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores and the Better Business Bureau. We’re all working on the issue of price gouging making sure we tackle it and address it. It’s never the time to make a quick buck illegally. We should all be working together to make sure folks aren’t being taken advantage of at a time when we need to be helping one another not exploiting one another,” Carr said.

To report scams or price gouging, please contact the Georgia Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by going to consumer.ga.gov or by calling 404-651-8600.