Whole Foods Apologizes For Overcharging Customers

Following an investigation by New York’s Department of Consumer Affairs that found Whole Foods overcharged customers (sometimes by as much as $15), the CEOs of Whole Foods have apologized.

In a clip posted to the grocer’s YouTube page, co-CEOs John Mackey (left) and Walter Robb acknowledged that “straight up” they’ve been mislabeling items that are prepared in-store, sandwiches and juices, for instance. The pair are clear that the errors are unintentional because, as Robb says, “sometimes they’re in the customer’s favor, sometimes they’re not in the customer’s favor.”

Calling it a byproduct of the “hands on” approach of the company, the pair outline the steps they’re taking to rectify the problem in New York and elsewhere: more training; an outside auditing service, which will report back to customers in 45 days what the company’s progress is; and a pact with customers that, if they think something is mislabeled, they can ask the cashier to weigh...