Auto Parts Retailers Agree to Fine for Battery Overcharging

The state of New York’s Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that the nation's two leading auto parts retailers have agreed to pay $220,000 to settle a case involving excessive fees on new car batteries.

AutoZone, Inc. of Memphis, Tenn., and Advance Stores Company, Inc., which does business as Advance Auto Parts, based in Roanoke, Va., both settled allegations that they violated a state law that limits the incentive fee charged to consumers purchasing lead-acid batteries.

"The Legislature set the fee for lead-acid batteries at a level that would encourage consumers to turn in old car batteries but protect against unreasonable windfalls by retailers," Spitzer said.

An investigation by Spitzer's office determined that since 2000, Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone had been charging return incentive fees of as much as $8 to new battery customers who failed to turn in their old batteries. State law, however, limits return incentive fees to $5 and requires distributors to accept the old batteries free of charge.

When notified by Spitzer's office of the overcharge, both Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone corrected the problem by lowering the return incentive fee to the $5 limit.

In settling the case, Advance Auto Parts and AutoZone paid $86,000 and $105,000 respectively - representing the excess proceeds from the overcharges - to Spitzer's office to be used to provide pro-rata refunds to consumers and charitable donations.

In addition to their restitution payments, Advance Auto Parts paid $15,000 in civil penalties and AutoZone paid $10,000.