When Retailers Steal Untold Millions From Customers: They Get Away With Calling It 'A Mistake'—And Execs Don't Go To Jail

Whole Foods CEO admits overcharging: 'Straight up, we made some mistakes' — as if their prices weren't already astronomical.

Double Parasites: John Mackey, left, and Walter Robb, Whole Foods co-CEOs.

By Samantha Masunaga
A week after a New York City investigation found that Whole Foods Market Inc. stores were overcharging for pre-packaged products, the company's co-chief executives admitted pricing mistakes were made.

The statement comes a year after the Austin, Texas, grocer agreed to pay nearly $800,000 in penalties for overcharging in California stores.

"Straight up, we made some mistakes," Co-Chief Executive Walter Robb said in a video posted Wednesday. "We want to own that."

Co-Chief Executive John Mackey said the "very, very small percentage" of "mis-weighing errors" occurred in fresh products like sandwiches, cut fruit and fresh squeezed juices.
"It's understandable, sometimes, that mistakes are made," Robb said. "They're inadvertent."

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