COLUMBUS, Ohio — A nonprofit review of government price inspections and customer complaints alleges that Kroger stores across Ohio frequently charge more at checkout than the prices posted on shelves, in weekly advertisements or through digital coupons. The Center for Responsible Food Business said it examined 389 inspections conducted at 101 Kroger stores in nine Ohio jurisdictions from 2022 through mid-2026. Fifteen percent of the inspections resulted in failures, according to the group. Inspectors recorded 474 overcharges, compared with 170 instances in which customers were charged less than the listed price — a ratio of nearly three to one. The report said Butler County had the highest apparent failure rate, with half of the stores inspected there failing. It also raised concerns about the potential impact on seniors and residents of lower-income communities, who may have less ability to absorb unexpected costs or to check every receipt against shelf tags. One example cited in the report involved a Kroger on Siebenthaler Avenue in Dayton, which allegedly failed three separate price inspections. Records also included complaints describing the store’s pricing practices as “senior abuse.” The store is in a ZIP code that the report said is 77% Black and where one in four residents lives below the poverty line, based on U.S. Census Bureau survey data. The nonprofit began its “Kroger’s Pricing Problem” campaign in May and solicited complaints through television advertising and an online submission form. Of the complaints it reviewed, 557 — 29% of the total — alleged that the register price did not match a shelf label, weekly ad or digital coupon. The group said those submissions should be treated as a minimum count rather than a measure of how often pricing errors occur. Shoppers who do not compare their receipts with posted prices may never discover an overcharge. Kroger, which is headquartered in Cincinnati and is the nation’s third-largest grocery chain by sales, rejected the report’s conclusions. A company spokesperson said employees work to maintain accurate prices across millions of Ohio transactions and correct problems when they are reported. The spokesperson also said the nonprofit had combined selective inspection data with unverified customer claims and that the results did not represent the typical experience in Kroger stores. The report included comments from people who identified themselves as Kroger workers. One person said staffing cuts left too few employees to remove outdated tags and post new promotional prices across an entire store, increasing the likelihood of errors. The pricing allegations follow broader scrutiny of Kroger’s market power. During a 2024 federal trial over the company’s proposed acquisition of Albertsons, a Kroger executive testified that the company had raised the prices of milk and eggs faster than inflation. A former employee also alleged that Kroger increased prices in neighborhoods with limited grocery competition. The Federal Trade Commission sought to block the merger, which was ultimately abandoned. For Ohio shoppers, the findings underscore the importance of checking shelf labels, digital coupon terms and receipts — particularly when purchasing items advertised at a discount. The review does not establish that every pricing discrepancy is intentional, but it points to a consumer-protection problem that can be difficult to detect without systematic inspections or careful receipt checks.