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Massachusetts Consumers Need Protection from Retail Overcharging

Representatives from Cure CVS testified today before a Massachusetts state senate joint committee hearing, urging elected leaders to uphold the state's item pricing laws. Multiple bills are under consideration by the legislature, and revisions could weaken item pricing laws which currently require food and grocery retailers to sell any item in the store at the lowest price indicated on an item, sign or advertisement. Revisions to the laws could restrict the state's power to protect consumers from retailers that overcharge.

CVS Caremark Corp., the nation's largest pharmacy chain, is by far the most penalized food retailer in the state for overcharging and other pricing violations, according to Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. And the overcharges aren't always just an oversight: some Boston-area CVS stores are still overcharging, even after being notified of specific pricing violations.

"CVS gives us hundreds of reasons why lawmakers need to keep our state's item pricing laws intact," Faron McLurkin of Cure CVS said at today's hearing before the state senate. "Seven hundred and eleven reasons, to be precise. That's the number of overcharges state inspectors found at CVS last year."

Overcharges at CVS increased 67 percent from 2007 to 2008, indicating that CVS has failed to correct prior violations of state item pricing laws. On average, state inspectors found almost five times more overcharges per inspection at CVS stores than at all other retailers in the state.

Although CVS stores made up only 6.6 percent of all state pricing inspections in 2008, CVS's violations accounted for 32 percent of all overcharges caught by the state that year. That's almost one third of all the overcharges inspectors found in Massachusetts. Massachusetts Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Undersecretary Barbara Anthony has ordered CVS to correct its illegal overcharging problems.

To learn more about CVS's pricing violations in Massachusetts, download a copy of Cure CVS's report Your Total Comes To More than the Advertised Price: How CVS Hasn't Fixed Its Pricing Violation Problems in Massachusetts (PDF).

Posted by Alex G. on July 27, 2009 2:01 PM

CVS Fails to Correct Pricing Violations in Most Boston Stores Surveyed

Eight out of ten Boston-area CVS stores surveyed have failed to correct overcharges even after being notified of the errors according to a study released on Thursday at a City Hall press conference. The study was conducted by Cure CVS, the same group that surveyed local CVS stores for instances of overcharging in April. Surveyors went back to some of the same CVS stores where they were overcharged two months ago and found in many cases that CVS had still not corrected the problem --surveyors were overcharged again on the same items.

"It is important to me that consumers in Boston are protected from unfair business practices, especially during these difficult economic times. People need to have the tools to protect themselves from being overcharged, and I have always supported item pricing and other reasonable consumer protections. I will continue to urge state lawmakers and the administration to ensure that every business in the Commonwealth plays by the rules," said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

Continue reading CVS Fails to Correct Pricing Violations in Most Boston Stores Surveyed.

Posted by Alex G. on June 23, 2009 3:42 PM

New Report: How CVS Still Hasn't Fixed its Pricing Problem in Massachusetts

After news emerged in April that Boston CVS stores were overcharging their customers, consumers might have expected change from the retail pharmacy giant. But new surveys conducted this month reveal that eight out of ten Boston-area CVS stores surveyed have failed to correct overcharges, even after being notified of the errors.

Surveyors went back to some of the same CVS stores where they were overcharged two months ago and found in many cases that CVS had still not corrected the problem. Surveyors were again overcharged on the same items.

CVS Caremark Corp. is by far the most penalized food retailer in the state for overcharging and other pricing violations, according to the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. There are multiple bills currently under consideration by the state legislature that would weaken item pricing laws, thus giving the state less power to protect consumers from overcharging at retail stores.

Boston City Councilmember Sam Yoon called on CVS to stop overcharging its customers and introduced a City Council resolution today to oppose all proposed state legislation that would weaken item pricing laws.

"People are struggling to make ends meet in this economy, and we need to ensure that consumers are being protected and that the laws of the commonwealth are respected and enforced," Councilmember Yoon said. "Still, there are attempts to water down the existing laws in this area. This week, I am filing a resolution that opposes the pending legislation in the State House to weaken consumer protection laws, and I call on my colleagues in the City Council to join me in this act."

Click here to download the full findings of our recent report, "Your Total Is...More Than The Advertised Price."

Posted by Alex G. on June 18, 2009 1:07 PM

CVS Caught Selling Expired Goods at Stores Across the Country

Learn more about CVS's history of selling expired products here.

Posted by Alex G. on May 21, 2009 2:50 PM

In Photos: Massachusetts Hearing on CVS's Overcharging

A hearing on item pricing at the Massachusetts State House in Boston on May 7, 2009. Cure CVS released a report highlighting the fact that CVS Pharmacies is the single most penalized food retailer for overcharging in Massachusetts.

Posted by Alex G. on May 12, 2009 4:17 PM

More on Overcharging at CVS

WBZ-TV in Boston reports more on the recent release of a report in Massachusetts slamming CVS for "routinely" overcharges customers. From WBZ:

You might want to check your receipt the next time you shop at CVS.

A new report claims the pharmacy chain routinely overcharges its customers. That's when an item scans at checkout for a higher price than what's posted in the store...Massachusetts inspectors cited CVS in 2008 almost five times more often than the average food retailer...The documents showed 711 overcharges at CVS stores in the last year.
CVS responded to this story, explaining the company tries its best to prevent overcharging. CVS spokesperson Mike DeAngelis was quoted saying:

"In the event of a discrepancy between a posted price and the price being scanned being brought to our attention, we always honor the lower price."
To the CVS shoppers reading: is this true? Have you ever tried to get CVS to honor the lower price on an item and succeeded?

Read more:
Group Claims CVS Routinely Overcharges [WBZ, 5/7/09]
Massachusetts CVS Stores Regularly Overcharge Customers [Consumerist]

Posted by Alex G. on May 11, 2009 4:51 PM

Rally in Boston - April 2, 2009

Posted by Alex G. on April 3, 2009 10:07 AM

We're asking CVS to clean up its act

Activists gathered in Boston, Miami and Washington, DC, today to spread the word about CVS's recurring problems with expired products and locked condom cases.

As community groups gathered in Boston, leafletters handed out fliers in Washington and protestors spoke out in Miami. Throughout the day's events, a recurring theme emerged: consumers are tired of CVS's behavior.

In Miami, surveyors found that 58% of area CVS stores had expired products on their shelves, while over a third of stores kept condoms under lock and key. South Florida Jobs With Justice (SFJWJ), South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice (SFIWJ), National Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), Healthcare For All Florida, South Florida AFL-CIO, Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), Students Working for Equal Rights (SWER), A. Philip Randolph Institute, Miami Dade Chapter (APRI), and SEIU 32BJ Florida, Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC)-Miami all joined Cure CVS in speaking out against the practice.

The Miami Herald quoted Change to Win Executive Director Chris Chafe saying, "This is offensive to our members who go to work and work hard everyday, including those who work in the stores...We're quite sure as an industry leader they can, should and must do better."

Continue reading We're asking CVS to clean up its act.

Posted by Alex G. on April 2, 2009 5:47 PM

In Photos: Unlock the Condoms!

Photos from events in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Los Angeles where public health advocates, civil rights groups and community leaders spoke out against CVS's practice of locking condom cases in communities of color.

Posted by Alex G. on February 12, 2009 4:47 PM

Join us at events this week

Join Cure CVS at events this week in Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. We'll be holding press conferences in each city and present CVS with a giant Valentine's message: "Have a Heart - Unlock the Condoms!" Find us at:

Boston
WHERE: CVS store at 778 Dudley St, Dorchester
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 12, 11:00 AM

New York
WHERE: CVS store at 115 W. 125th Street in Harlem & CVS store at 282 East 149th Street in the Bronx
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 12, 12:00 Noon

Philadelphia
WHERE: CVS store at intersection of Broad and Girard
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 12, 12:00 Noon

Los Angeles
WHERE: CVS store at 4345 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90304
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 12, 4 PM - 6 PM, PST.

If you can't join us in person, you can still help spread the word about CVS's unfair condom policies. Download a "Have a Heart - Unlock the Condoms" Valentine to send to friends or post on your blog. You can also join the cause on Facebook, and be sure to join our mailing list, too.

Posted by Alex G. on February 10, 2009 3:57 PM

Tell CVS: Have a Heart, Unlock the Condoms!

This Valentine's Day, in CVS stores across the country, condoms are locked behind glass cases. To buy condoms at these stores, shoppers must request assistance from a CVS clerk, who will monitor the shopper's selection and then lock the case behind them.

Public health advocates have criticized CVS's locked condom cases, saying they create a barrier which could decrease condom use. But even more worrisome than the retailer's practice of locking condoms is where those locked cases are located: locked condoms have been found disproportionately in minority areas.

Speak out against this practice: tell CVS to have a heart and unlock the condoms by signing our petition:

http://changetowinaction.org/campaign/unlock_the_condoms

CVS's closest competitors have policies against locking condom cases - it's time CVS do the same.

Posted by Alex G. on February 10, 2009 11:52 AM

Cure CVS: Speaking Out Across the Country

Community leaders across the country are speaking out against CVS's business practices. Hear some of them speak in the video above.

Posted by Alex G. on January 26, 2009 1:53 PM

Expired Goods at CVS Stores in Boston

A news brief from Fox 25 in Boston about expired goods for sale at CVS stores.

Posted by Alex G. on January 21, 2009 1:54 PM

CVS caught again with expired products

Change to Win organizers Langston Peace and Kate Titus in front of a CVS in Downtown Boston, Monday, Dec. 22, 2008, with an assortment of outdated items purchased from CVS stores in the region as part of an effort to warn consumers about expired and potentially dangerous or ineffective products for sale at some area CVS stores.

Expired infant formula, medication and milk on display in downtown Boston, Monday, Dec. 22, 2008.

Change to Win/Cure CVS volunteer Chris Foster in front of a CVS in downtown Boston, Monday, Dec. 22, 2008.

Posted by Jeff Hamilton on December 22, 2008 4:24 PM