12:35p.m. 2nd May 2008

Two Sunshine Coast supermarkets are among the Queensland stores which have been fined by the Office of Fair Trading for over-charging their customers at the checkout.

One in three grocery stores checked by the state’s fair trading officers have been found to be ripping off customers at the checkout by scanning their groceries at higher prices than advertised.

Among those fined were the 7-Eleven at Marcoola and the Palmwoods Supermarket.

The Marcoola store was fined $2000 plus court costs for overcharging on seven items, which boosted the bill by $1.10.

Last year, the Palmwoods Supermarket was fined $3500 plus costs for having six items overpriced which added up to just over $1 extra on the bill.

Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine said today that the fines were about keeping retailers accountable and ensuring their scanners accurately reflected the price on the shelves.

Office of Fair Trading inspectors had caught a number of retailers with inaccurate scanners at their checkout, charging consumers more for an item than it was marked on the shelf, he said.

Mr Shine said a total of 282 businesses were checked during inspections in February and March, and it was found almost 32 per cent of businesses had at least one item which was overcharged when scanned.

He said a number of serious fines had been handed down by courts.

They also included the IGA Supermarket at Upper Coomera on the Gold Coast, which was slugged $5000 plus court costs for having 25 items overpriced which added an extra $9 on to the bill.

“Now $9 may not sound like a lot of money to some people but when items are sold to many customers over a day, that total quickly racks up to greater profits for the retailer at the expense of consumers who can’t afford it,” Mr Shine said.

The latest figures were a dramatic reduction on inspections done during the Christmas-New Year period, when around 46 per cent of businesses had at least one inaccurate item, he said.

“This shows that businesses are getting the message,” Mr Shine said.

“Those recently fined were found to have a system where a large number of items were scanned inaccurately, resulting in customers getting ripped off.”

Management at 7 Eleven and the Palmwoods IGA declined to comment on the matter when contacted by thedaily.com.au today.

The Office of Fair Trading statement comes as Sunshine Coast charity groups have revealed that they are facing increasing demand for help from families which are coming under pressure as the cost of basic foods spirals.

— AAP