House members press 7-Eleven, Circle K on overcharges; Balint urges FTC probe

Inspection records find chains failed up to 62% of price checks

Rep. Becca Balint, a Democrat from Vermont, called on the Federal Trade Commission on Saturday to investigate 7-Eleven and Circle K after a Guardian investigation found the two largest US convenience store chains frequently charge customers more at the register or pump than the prices they display on shelves or on outdoor fuel signs. Four other House Democrats separately called out the chains’ pricing practices in statements.

The Guardian’s review of customer complaints and state and local price-accuracy inspections between 2023 and 2025 found that 7-Eleven failed 41% of its price inspections in Arizona and 47% in both Colorado and Utah. Over the same span, Circle K failed 35% of its inspections in Florida, 39% in Arizona and 62% in North Carolina.

“It’s enraging that these massive companies are now essentially forcing us to fact-check every price tag and receipt just to make sure we’re not getting ripped off,” Balint said in a statement. “7-Eleven and Circle K have a responsibility to make sure the price we see on the shelf is the price we pay at the register.”

Balint called on the FTC to “investigate this trend and hold these companies accountable if they’re deliberately misleading customers.”

Rep. Nanette Barragán, a California Democrat whose district covers a swath of Los Angeles County, called the findings “disturbing.” “Americans work hard to feed their families,” she said. “As Trump and Republicans continue to skyrocket the cost of food and other basic necessities, businesses need to keep their prices transparent and fair.”

The calls from Balint and Barragán are part of a broader political focus on inflation and affordability. Other politicians who have made the issue central to their pitches to voters include New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani; James Talarico, a Texas Democratic candidate for US Senate; and Rick Fazio, a Republican state legislator running for governor in Connecticut.

President Donald Trump has dismissed affordability concerns as a “hoax” and “con job” perpetrated by Democrats. An AP-NORC poll released Thursday found that just 17% of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the cost of living.

Both chains declined to answer detailed lists of questions from the Guardian. In brief statements, 7-Eleven said it takes pricing accuracy “very seriously” and Circle K said it is “committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”

The Guardian’s convenience store investigation is the outlet’s second recent examination of pricing discrepancies at major US chains. In December, the Guardian reported that Dollar General and Family Dollar, the nation’s two largest dollar store chains, had repeatedly failed to honor their shelf prices, charging more at checkout for items including frying pans and Frosted Flakes. Both chains told the Guardian they were committed to pricing accuracy.

In response to the dollar store findings, 30 US House members signed a letter demanding answers from the two chains about their pricing practices. The lead author of that letter, Rep. Nikki Budzinski, an Illinois Democrat, said the Guardian’s new reporting on convenience stores “shows the problem goes even deeper … We will not let up on federal oversight until these chains fix this glaring issue and treat consumers with the fairness and respect they deserve.”

Rep. Delia Ramirez, also an Illinois Democrat, said she is concerned about people in her district who are vulnerable to unfair marketplace practices. “Through price gouging, price fixing, predatory algorithms and corporate monopolies, corporations have put profits and production over people, and our government has allowed it,” Ramirez said. “People in my district are tired. Our communities want their representative to put an end to corporate greed and to fight for lower prices and higher wages.”

In Los Angeles County — where 7-Eleven stores failed 37% of their price-accuracy inspections between 2023 and 2025 — Rep. Laura Friedman, a Democrat whose district includes West Hollywood and Burbank, said families already paying high prices for gas and groceries do not need to be charged more at checkout than what is posted on the shelf. “California law says you must charge the price on the sign, so these reports of overcharging, including in our own communities, are deeply concerning,” Friedman said. “State and local officials should investigate, and any store found breaking the law needs to be held accountable.”

Experts told the Guardian that one of the obstacles to addressing the problem is a lack of inspection and enforcement resources across much of the country. When state and local agencies do take action, modest fines and even large settlements often fail to deter deep-pocketed retail chains from charging customers more than their posted prices, the experts said.

Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote that imposing serious fines could prevent stores from posting phony prices on their shelves. “If the goal is to prevent stores from ripping off their customers by posting phony prices on their shelves, this can be done by imposing serious fines,” Baker wrote in an article about the Guardian’s investigation. “If a store had to pay a $50 fine for every instance where they overcharged someone 10 or 20 cents on a pound of apples, they would very quickly figure out how to get their shelf prices to agree with their cash register prices.”