Metro

The price is wrong: How city stores nickel and dime us all

New Yorkers are getting short-changed by supermarkets, delis, drugstores and gas stations that illegally inflate weights and measures, charge higher-than-marked prices and slap the sales tax on nontaxable items.

City inspectors issued 2,976 violations so far this year to retailers who soak their customers — a 58 percent increase over last year’s 1,882 tickets.

At the Whole Foods store in Columbus Circle, undercover inspectors bought eight pieces of cheesecake weighed with a scale that wasn’t set right and did not account for the plastic containers. Total rip-off: $8.58.

Inaccurate weights for five pieces of Australian blue cheese hiked the bill by $5.85, and nine salads tacked on an extra $3.50.

Inspectors were also charged the wrong price for each of four random items not weighed by the store — lotion, sunblock, bottled water and shoe insoles — which boosted the tab by $5.66.

“We have zero tolerance for an uncalibrated scale, and when the economy is in distress, that’s especially important,” said Jonathan Mintz, commissioner of the city Department of Consumer Affairs.

“In the vast majority of cases, we don’t think it’s purposeful fraud. But whether it’s a significant overcharge or a small overcharge to a significant number of people, that’s unacceptable. Pennies add up.”

Michael Sinatra, a spokesman for Whole Foods, said: “We want to assure our shoppers that Whole Foods Market would never intentionally use weight and pricing instruments that were not accurately set.

“As soon as we were notified of the citation last February, we immediately replaced the scales in question and have worked closely with the local Consumer Affairs branch to ensure that weight and pricing of all of our items are accurate.”

But other Big Apple stores are banging consumers at the register.

Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 17, virtually every grocery chain in the city was slapped with “weights and measures” violations, which carry fines up to $600 for the first offense and $1,200 for each additional offense.

The list includes Fairway, Gristedes, Associated, D’Agostino’s, Pathmark, Key Food, Food Emporium, Met Food, Stop & Shop, Waldbaum’s, Foodtown, C-Town, Pioneer and Western Beef.

At the now-shuttered Balducci’s on East 66th Street near Sutton Place, inspectors bought a fruit salad boat for $30.22, then found that the scale used to calculate the price was off. The actual price should have been $28.95.

At the Fairway in Harlem, faulty scales tacked on $10.31 to three packages of Taiwan tea, $2.32 to six porterhouse steaks and $2.16 to a dozen center-cut pork chops, Consumer Affairs found.

Specialty stores had similar problems charging customers accurately.

At Caputo’s, a popular Italian food store in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, a container of olives labeled as weighing 1.055 pounds actually weighed an even pound, inflating the price to $9.48 from $9.03.

“It happened,” admitted manager Mark Caputo, who said that in busy times an employee might forget to hit the “tare” button, which sets a scale to zero and deducts the weight of a container.

“We sell a lot of stuff that’s preweighed, and they could forget to hit the button. Every store does it.”

Unfair taxes padded the pockets of plenty of purveyors.

Consumer Affairs said acclaimed Bouley Bakery on West Broadway illegally charged 50 cents tax on cookies and 24 cents tax on fresh orange juice.

Store controller Mark Stiehl said Bouley paid the $600 fine, but he complained that the city was unfairly taking advantage of a gray area in the law that calls for sales tax on restaurant meals but exempts retail food and drink.

“We have 60 seats. This person came in and bought a cookie and said, ‘You know, I’m not eating this here.’ My cashier said, ‘OK,’ and we got a $600 fine.

“How do I know if you’re going to sit here or eat it on the bus? Do I have to ask every customer? I told the city, ‘I want to do this right. I don’t want a violation.’ But they’re not helping. They would rather have the fine.”

Mintz said: “I’m unsympathetic to stores that profess not to know when it’s appropriate to charge sales tax.”

Clerks at Trader Joe’s on Court Street in Brooklyn illegally taxed organic carrot juice, inspectors said. Down the street at Gourmet Fresh, the same was done to a package of diapers.

And it wasn’t just grocery stores that ripped off shoppers.

Inspectors issued summonses to a host of drugstores, including branches of Duane Reade, CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreen’s, mostly for prepackaged merchandise that was weighed incorrectly.

The department also found 227 gas-pump meters that didn’t work right and ticketed almost every type of station across the five boroughs: Shell, Amoco, Mobil, Getty, Hess, Sunoco, Citgo, BP, Gaseteria and Lukoil.

It stressed that inspectors reported a 98 percent compliance rate at the pumps and that some of the faulty meters actually benefited the customer.

Still, gas-station complaints shot up 40 percent this fiscal year, rising to 1,329 from 948 in 2008, Consumer Affairs said.

Inspectors tagged a number of other name-brand stores, including K-Mart, Staples, Foot Locker, Radio Shack, Cohen Fashion Optical as well as many lesser known shops.

Not all violations involved overcharges.

Some related to items that didn’t have price tags or had improper or missing labels. Other summonses were for misleading advertising, cash-register problems, and receipts.

Buyer beware

Examples of the 2,976 overcharging violations the Department of Consumer Affairs has found in New York City this year.

WHOLE FOODS MARKET

10 Columbus Circle, Upper West Side

Feb. 25

Ticketed for “short weight” on nine items, including chicken, cheese, chocolate, cupcakes, brownies and salad. Eight inaccurately weighed slices of cappuccino cheesecake led to a $8.58 overcharge, five chunks of Australian blue cheese padded the bill by $5.85, and nine salads tacked on an extra $3.50. Store also hit for “deceptive trade practice” for a cash register that rang up the wrong price on lotion, bottled water, sunblock and arch insoles, creating a $5.66 overcharge.

BALDUCCI’S

FOOD LOVERS MARKET

155 E. 66th St., near Sutton Place

Feb. 3

Hit with “false labeling” ticket for not accurately weighing a fruit salad at $5.79 per pound, leading to a charge of $30.22 — $1.27 over the actual price.

BOULEY

120 West Broadway, SoHo

March 11

Tagged for “deceptive trade practice” for charging tax on tax-free food items: 50 cents on a $5.95 package of cookies and 24 cents for two fresh orange juices at $2.75. Inspectors also found a cashier weighing items with a scale not approved for commercial use.

Caputo’s

FINE FOODS

460 Court St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn

March 26

Inspectors ticketed the store for “false labeling” of a plastic container with olives at $8.99 per pound. The store scale’s indicated weight of 1.055 pounds led to a charge of $9.48. The actual weight was an even one pound — and the price should have been $9.03, a difference of 45 cents.

TRADER JOE’S

130 Court St., Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

Sept. 10

Two “deceptive trade practice” violations: for claiming that bananas cost 19 cents each (when they actually charge by the pound) and charging 21 cents tax on tax-free carrot juice.

FAIRWAY

“Like no other market!”

2328 12th Ave., West Harlem

March 26

Ticketed for “short weight” on nine items, including: steaks, pork chops, squid and tea. Inaccurate scales measured the wrong weights for three packages of Taiwan oolong charcoal tea, leading to a $10.31 overcharge, for a dozen center-cut pork chops, which added up to an extra $2.16, and for six porterhouse steaks, which tacked on $2.32.

gourmetfresh

437 Court St., Carroll Gardens

March 26

Store was hit with two “deceptive trade practice” summonses: for charging $1.09 tax on a $12.99 tax-free package of diapers and for ringing up $3.49 for a jar of apple juice that actually cost $3.29. Also got a “false labeling” ticket for a scale that inaccurately weighed a salad-bar salad, charging $7.62 when the price should have been $7.40.

What you can do

Customers can get cheated in several ways, but being a savvy shopper can protect your wallet:

* Inaccurate scales. Clerks need to hit a scale’s “tare” button before weighing your item. It’s a clean slate for the scale, setting it to zero after deducting the weight of the container. Check the digital readout before they weigh.

* Wrong prices. A common problem involves goods that go on sale but register at the original price. Always inspect your receipt. Some stores will give you items for free if you get charged the wrong price and complain.

* Unfair taxes. Many staples, including food and beverages not sold in restaurants, as well as clothing and shoes that cost less than $110, are exempt from the combined city and state sales tax rate of 8.875 percent.

Additional reporting by Melissa Klein

brad.hamilton@nypost.com