Price Gouging Complaint

North Carolina’s price gouging law is triggered when the state suffers or is threatened by a natural disaster (such as a hurricane, tornado, winter storm, or flooding) an emergency (such as a pandemic), or an abnormal market disruption for critical goods and services (such as a gas pipeline issue). Price gouging—or charging too much in times of crisis—is against North Carolina law when a state of emergency is declared or proclaimed by the Governor, the Legislature, a county, or a municipality.

Under the law, the Attorney General’s Office can put a stop to price gouging and seek refunds for consumers who paid too much. The courts may also impose civil penalties against price gougers of up to $5,000 for each violation. The law applies to all levels of the supply chain from the manufacturer to the distributor to the retailer.

Consumers have let the Attorney General’s Office know about price gouging in the past, and we have enforced North Carolina’s price gouging law to win thousands of dollars in refunds and penalties from violators.

We Can Help

For questions about price gouging, call our office toll-free within North Carolina at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.