Price scanning system at local Giant Eagle fails inspection; items don’t match listed prices

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. — The price scanning system at Giant Eagle in New Kensington failed after a routine inspection on Monday.

A big red “rejected” sticker is what shoppers at the store are seeing when they head to check out. Westmoreland County officials put them at all the scanners after three of 25 randomly selected items rang up at the wrong price.

“That automatically makes that price verification system fail, so we put a reg tag on that system so that it alerts consumers, ‘hey, something’s wrong with the price scanner,’” said Greg McCloskey, Westmoreland County Director of Operations.

McCloskey said a can of lemonade rang up 30 cents higher than the shelf price, a bag of frozen chicken wings rang in at a dollar more per pound, and a pack of candles was also a dollar more expensive than the shelf price.

Five scales out of nearly 40 in the store also failed.

McCloskey said the county inspects 8,000 devices each year. It’s very common for stores, gas stations, and even laundromats to fail.

“[In 2023], we had, out of the 8,000 inspections, we had probably 2,000 that didn’t pass,” McCloskey said.

A representative from Giant Eagle was unavailable for an interview, but sent a statement to Channel 11.

A recent visit by the Westmoreland County Bureau of Weights and Measures to our New Kensington Giant Eagle identified five scales out of the more than 40 throughout the store that were out of compliance. The reasons vary, but importantly only two were out of compliance due to improper calibration of the scales themselves. The other three were due to either an official certification label being ripped or damaged or the specific placement of the scale limiting a customer’s ability to see the weighing of an item. Separately, the Bureau identified three items that rang up at the register at different prices than what was communicated on their respective shelf tags.

All eight issues brought to our attention were immediately addressed. We rectified the pricing of the three identified items. The two scales in need of recalibration were remedied. Finally, we have temporarily discontinued use of the three remaining scales until those issues can be addressed and the Bureau can recertify them.

We look forward to the Bureau’s follow-up visit. In the meantime, New Kensington Giant Eagle customers are invited to shop the store with confidence knowing that all of the Bureau’s feedback has been addressed.

“It shows that they have integrity and it’s not something they’re trying to do,” said one shopper.

Other shoppers said they will be checking their receipts more often.

“Is that something you don’t think too much about?” Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek asked Alison Dobies.

“I don’t, I’m usually in and out usually on the way to something else,” Dobies said. “I trust that their systems are correct and that I don’t have to.”

The county will do another unannounced inspection within 30 days. Consumers can report any suspected issues on the Westmoreland County website.

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