According to the Westchester News, a recent inspection at Wal-Mart revealed that 64% of the products at a local store were not item priced. The store was fined $27,500 for the violation. Now maybe this was a case of a lazy store, or maybe the associates need to be retrained like the article says. Based on comments and reports from customers, however, Wal-Mart seems to have a habit of price gougeing (listing an item as one price, but charging another at the register), and this would certainly make that easier. Read the full article and tell us what you think Wal-Mart is trying to pull:

White Plains, NY - Westchester County has announced that retail giant Wal-Mart has been fined $27,500 for violating Westchester’s item pricing law.

Inspectors from the Department of Consumer Protection found that 64 percent of merchandise on display at the Wal-Mart store in Mohegan Lake was not item priced. Unmarked items included kitchen utensils, packaged foods, vitamins, over-the-counter drugs and sporting goods.

A prior inspection at Wal-Mart’s White Plains store in August 2006 found an 81 percent error rate. Wal-Mart was fined $2,500 at that time.

In resolving the latest infraction, Wal-Mart has also agreed to adopt a “Pricing Action Plan” that will include additional training for employees, adjustment of staffing levels to ensure that adequate resources are devoted to item pricing and internal self-audits.

“We are pleased that Wal-Mart has agreed to act to improve its level of compliance with our item pricing law,” said Gary Brown, director of Consumer Protection. “Retailers that fail to individually price their merchandise are violating our law and hindering the ability of consumers to comparison shop. We will continue to conduct inspections to ensure compliance with our law.”

Consumers with complaints about a store’s failure to item price should contact the Department of Consumer Protection by calling (914) 995-2155 or logging onto www.westchestergov.com/consumer