Michigan Scanner Law: Bonus Refund, Claims, and Enforcement

Under Michigan’s scanner law, if a register charges you more than the price displayed at the item’s shelf, you’re owed the full overcharge back plus a bonus equal to ten times the difference, with a floor of $1 and a ceiling of $5. The law is formally the Shopping Reform and Modernization Act, Act 15 of 2011, and it covers most tangible goods sold at retail in Michigan.¹ To collect, you have to act within 30 days and follow specific steps.

How the Bonus Refund Is Calculated

The formula in MCL 445.319 has two parts. You get the full price difference back, and you get a bonus of ten times that difference, subject to a $1 minimum and a $5 maximum.²

A worked example: a shelf sign reads $3.99 and the scanner rings up $4.49. The overcharge is $0.50. Ten times $0.50 is $5.00, which hits the cap. You collect $0.50 plus $5.00, for $5.50 total. A smaller example: a $0.05 overcharge produces a $0.50 calculation, but the $1 floor applies, so you get $0.05 plus $1.00, or $1.05.²

When more than one identical item is overcharged in the same transaction, the price difference is refunded on each one, but the bonus applies only once.²

How to Claim the Refund

The bonus is not automatic. Three conditions have to be met before you’re eligible: the sale must have gone through an automatic checkout system, the transaction must be complete, and you must have a receipt showing the item and the price charged.¹

From there, you have 30 days from the transaction to notify the seller, in person or in writing. Your notice has to include evidence of the overcharge, which in practice means the receipt paired with proof of the displayed price. A photo of the shelf tag or sign is the easiest way to lock that in. Most shoppers just walk over to the customer service desk after checkout and handle it on the spot.¹

Once you’ve given notice, the store has two days to pay you the price difference and the bonus. If it pays within that window, that overcharge is settled and you can’t sue over it. If the store refuses or ignores you, the door to a civil action under MCL 445.322 opens.³

What Counts as the Displayed Price

A retailer cannot charge more than the price displayed for an item. Under MCL 445.318, knowingly charging above the price shown at the item’s location is a violation.² If two prices are displayed for the same item and they conflict, the retailer has to charge the lower one.⁴

Prices don’t have to be stickered onto every item. Shelf signs, electronic readers, or any other method that clearly communicates the price to someone standing at the item’s location all count.¹ Stores that prefer individual stickers may still use them, but it isn’t required.⁴

Items That Don’t Need a Displayed Price

Some items are outside the price-display rule, and a complaint about one of them won’t go anywhere. The exempt categories include:¹

Unpackaged food and items sold by weight or volume without packaging
Prepared food meant for immediate consumption
Items sold through vending machines
Items weighing 3 ounces or less, measuring 3 cubic inches or less, or priced at 30 cents or less
Live plants and animals
Motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts
Packages of 20 or fewer cigarettes
Individually sold greeting cards with a readable coded price on the back
Mail or catalog orders, and gifts ordered for direct shipment
Items not visible for inspection, if the price appears on the order, bill, or invoice

If the Store Won’t Pay, or the Overcharge Was Intentional

The bonus refund track is for unintentional pricing errors. MCL 445.319 explicitly says the bonus refund section does not apply to intentional overcharges.² That does not leave the shopper without a remedy. An intentional overcharge is a violation of MCL 445.318, and the consumer can go straight to the civil action provisions of MCL 445.322.

Under MCL 445.322, a consumer who suffers a loss from any violation of the act can bring an individual or class action to recover actual damages or $250 per day the violation is found, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees of up to $300 in an individual case.³ That is the same path available when a retailer refuses to pay the bonus refund after proper notice.

Advertised Sale Prices

The law reaches beyond shelf tags. When a store advertises a sale price and then refuses to sell the item at that price, a rebuttable presumption arises that the retailer intended to violate the act. The burden is on the store to justify the refusal, not on the shopper to prove bad faith.¹ The presumption applies whether the ad ran in a flyer, on a window display, or on digital signage. Documenting the ad with a photo before you leave the store makes any later complaint much stronger.

Attorney General Enforcement

The Michigan Attorney General has independent authority to enforce the act. Under MCL 445.320, the office can seek a court injunction to stop ongoing violations, and prosecuting attorneys or law enforcement officers who learn of a violation are required to forward written notice to the Attorney General.⁵ The office also maintains public information on pricing rights under MCL 445.321.⁶

Filing a complaint with the Attorney General is worth considering when a store won’t cooperate, particularly when the problem looks like a pattern rather than a one-time error. If the Attorney General or a prosecuting attorney does not act within 60 days of receiving notice of a violation, the consumer can file suit directly for a declaratory judgment or an injunction against the retailer.³

Ignore Old References to $1,000 Fines

Some online sources still describe Michigan’s scanner rules using fines of up to $1,000 per violation. Those figures came from the Pricing and Advertising of Consumer Items Act (Act 449 of 1976), often called the Item Pricing Act, which was replaced by the Shopping Reform and Modernization Act effective September 1, 2011.¹ Current enforcement runs through consumer-initiated bonus refunds, private lawsuits under MCL 445.322, and Attorney General injunctions, not per-violation government fines.

1
Michigan Attorney General. Michigan’s Scanner Law – The Shopping Reform and Modernization Act
2
Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 445.319 – Shopping Reform and Modernization Act (Excerpt)
3
Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 445.322 – Shopping Reform and Modernization Act (Excerpt)
4
Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development. Item Pricing and Scanning Accuracy Questions and Answers
5
Michigan Legislature. Chapter 445 TRADE AND COMMERCE – Section: Shopping Reform and Modernization Act
6
Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 445.321 – Shopping Reform and Modernization Act (Excerpt)