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Call Kurtis: Why Is 99 Cents Only Store Charging Me 99.99 Cents?

Law student Lluvia Escobar is a penny pincher, preferring to buy her Valentine's Day decorations from the 99 Cents Only Store.

"Everything there was 99 cents," she said.

Or so she thought.

Lluvia's noticed on her receipt she was actually charged 99.99 cents for each item.

"It took me a couple of years before I noticed." She said.

The sign on the store front says 99 Cents Only - as do the shopping carts. It's even written on the wall inside the store.

"It's very misleading," Lluvia said.

We went undercover and found shelf after shelf displaying 99 cent price tags.

But, when we looked closer, the price tags say "99.99" cents.

A cashier admitted to our undercover producer that some customers have argued they feel they've been overcharged.

"So, is anything 99 cents here?" Our producer asked the cashier.

"No," she replied.

On the way out of the store, we noticed a sign that says most items are priced at 99 cents or less – but again, when we looked closer and saw it actually says 99.99 cents - the extra .99 added on in small print.

Kurtis Ming brought the issue to Consumer Action's Joe Ridout.

"When you hear the 99 Cents Only Store is actually charging a little more than 99 cents, closer to a dollar, what do you think?" Ming asked.

"That does seem misleading," Ridout said.

But Ridout pointed out it's less than a penny difference.

"How much money could a penny mean to a corporation like this?" Ming asked Ridout.

"I guess you just increased your margins by a full 1%." He said.

How much money could that be?

"It's conceivable they're making in the millions," Sacramento State Finance Professor Sanjay told CBS13.

We found a lawsuit filed against the 99 Cents Only Store in 2010, claiming "Despite changing its primary price point, 99 Cents Only did not change its store name…store logo on signs, bags, signage or ads…"

The case settled, with the store reportedly agreeing to post certain signs in the store.

When we reached out to 99 Cents Only Store's corporate office, the company refused to respond to any criticism that the name of the store remains misleading.

When we spoke to customers outside various 99 Cents Only Stores, the reaction was mixed.

"It's a little bit misleading," one customer told CBS13.

Yet another person pointed to the store's new policy and that "they did post it."

The price change won't stop Lluvia from shopping at the 99 Cents Only Store, but she thinks they should consider changing their name.

"They should come up with something that wouldn't be as misleading to their customers," she said. "It is just a couple cents every time you're there, but those couple cents do add up."

On its website, the company says raising the price to 99.99 cents has allowed them to offer more of a variety. In an email to us, it claimed the prices were raised in 2008, in part due to inflation. But if a customer is unhappy, they said they have a no-questions-asked return policy.

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