--- description: They promise customers that mis-weighed products will be free title: Whole Foods Admits to Sometimes Overcharging Customers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt017670220138ed39/69885459e20a875e77a8bd19/ap586767604049.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Whole Foods Admits to Sometimes Overcharging Customers  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jul 2, 2015 12:15 AM CUT  FILE - In this Monday, July 29, 2013, file photo, produce is places on Whole Foods paper bag in Andover, Mass. Whole Foods Market Inc. reports quarterly financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013\. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File) FILE - In this Monday, July 29, 2013, file photo, produce is places on Whole Foods paper bag in Andover, Mass. Whole Foods Market Inc. reports quarterly financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013\. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)Elise Amendola—AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jul 2, 2015 12:15 AM CUT Following an [investigation](http://time.com/money/3933703/whole-foods-overcharging-customers/ "undefined") that revealed the grocery store chain Whole Foods was overcharging customers in New York City for some products, the company [released a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWUn2LYSb6g "undefined") Wednesday vowing to fix the problem. “Straight up, we made some mistakes. We want to own that and tell you what we’re doing about it,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, in the video. Robb and his fellow CEO John Mackey said that a small percentage of their fresh food was being weighed incorrectly. “We know they’re unintentional because there are mistakes in the customer’s favor and sometimes not in the customer’s favor,” said Robb. The two CEOs promised to increase training of their staff across the country and implement a third-party auditing system to track improvements, which customers will be able to follow. They also said customers can ask the cashier to check weights. “If there is a mistake that’s not in your favor, we promise to give you that item for free,” they said. New York City investigators said after a probe into the charging practices of grocery stores across the city that Whole Foods was “the worst case” they had ever seen. The investigation came just one year after Whole Foods paid an $800,000 settlement for overcharging customers in California. Even when the company is not overcharging, Whole Foods, which has been nicknamed “Whole Paycheck” by some, has a reputation for its high prices. The grocery store [announced](http://time.com/money/3850726/whole-foods-cheap-millennial-friendly-stores/ "undefined") in May that they plan to open a lower-price chain for customers turned off by Whole Foods’ prices. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3944156/whole-foods-admits-overcharging/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3944156/whole-foods-admits-overcharging/"},"headline":"Whole Foods Admits to Sometimes Overcharging Customers","datePublished":"2015-07-02T00:15:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:43:29.035Z","description":"They promise customers that incorrectly weighed products will be free","url":"https://time.com/3944156/whole-foods-admits-overcharging/","keywords":["Companies","Whole Foods"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt017670220138ed39/69885459e20a875e77a8bd19/ap586767604049.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt017670220138ed39/69885459e20a875e77a8bd19/ap586767604049.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Earns Whole Foods","caption":"Earns Whole Foods","creditText":"Elise Amendola—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3944156/whole-foods-admits-overcharging/","name":"Whole Foods Admits to Sometimes Overcharging Customers"}}]}] ```