By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Two Manhattan supermarkets were fined almost $7,500 for consumer violations in 2010, the New York Post reported Friday.
The Columbus Circle Whole Foods was fined $2,975 while a Key Food on Lenox Avenue in Harlem was slapped with $4,450 in fines, the eighth highest total in the city last year..
Fines were handed out for infractions like overcharging, improperly marked items and inaccurate scales.
Whole Foods shopper Joseph Lorenzi, 19, complained there was no scale at their buffet.
While not having scales at the buffet reportedly isn't a violation, Lorenzi complained the store made it difficult to keep track of your spending.
"You're not sure how much you're going to pay — the problem is you don't know how much the food weighs," Lorenzi told the Post.
Whole Foods tests their pricing systems regularly, a spokesperson for the chain told the Post.
"As customer satisfaction is of utmost importance to us, it is our policy to fully refund any items that customers find to have been rung up incorrectly," spokesman Michael Sinatra told the paper.
According to the report, 370 supermarkets out of 650 inspected by the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs were fined a total of $380,000 in 2010.
Pioneer in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, was the city's worst offender with $11,460 in fines.
