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Rally in Worcester Against Overcharging at CVS Stores


Worcester News Tonight reports on the rally at a Worchester, MA. CVS on Friday over pricing irregularities at CVS stores. In the report (found here), several people present at the rally spoke about overcharging at CVS stores.

"CVS is by far the worst retailer in the state of Massacusetts for illegally overcharging customers. We've seen it here in Worcester," said Deanne Dworski-Riggs, of Cure CVS. She went on to say, "You know we've spoken with a former manager at CVS and they said they would rather pay the fines and continue to overcharge customers than address the problem."

One shopper interviewed for the report explained that she had been overcharged at CVS just the day before. "Yesterday I pay $3.49 for milk," she explained, "and they have a big sign for $2.89. Definitely they need to just have the right prices, just advertise the right prices, and when we go to the register, we pay for what we were told."

Worcester CVS stores caught overcharging [Worcester News Tonight]

Posted by Alex G. on July 27, 2009 3:28 PM

Worcester Rally Calls on CVS to Stop Overcharging Customers




Community members and activists rallied in Worcester, MA. on Friday calling on CVS to stop overcharging its customers.

Overcharges found at CVS stores in Massachusetts increased 67 percent from 2007 to 2008, indicating that the retailer has failed to correct prior violations of state item pricing laws. On average, Massachusetts 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.

Luz Ramirez, lead organizer at Neighbor to Neighbor, said at Friday's rally: "I've lived and worked in Worcester for almost 20 years and I know that residents of Worcester can't afford to pay any more than the advertised price on essentials like food and medicine."

Massachusetts Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Undersecretary Barbara Anthony has ordered CVS to correct its illegal overcharging problems, and met with the company earlier this month over the issue.

Read more about CVS's ongoing pricing problems in Massachusetts in Cure CVS's recent 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 11:17 AM

KHOU On Expired Goods at CVS Stores

Consumer advocates rallied outside the CVS store at 806 S. 75th Street in Houston yesterday, calling on the pharmacy chain to stop selling expired products in its stores. Findings released yesterday found that Greater Houston CVS stores have failed to adequately address these issues since a February survey of 34 local CVS stores found expired dairy products, medication or infant formula for sale at 90% of the stores visited.

Houston-based groups are calling for CVS to adopt new corporate policies after the California Attorney General announced last week that CVS will pay almost $1 million to settle allegations of misleading customers and unfair business practices stemming from the sale of expired products and of failing to adequately protect and dispose of customers' confidential personal and medical information.

Houston community leaders were quoted by KHOU on the issue:

 "There are serious disparities in terms of those products," said DeLoyd Parker with the Shape Center. "I mean that's serious. Look at our children. Look at the families these businesses serve."

"We care about what the consumer is getting. We found that by shopping at CVS we're not getting first rate products or products that have a usable shelf life and we're concerned about the effects of some of these products," said Francisco Rodriguez with LULAC.

Study: CVS is selling expired products [KHOU, Houston; 6/18/09]

Posted by Alex G. on June 19, 2009 9:06 AM

Philadelphia City Council Votes to Clamp Down on Sale of Expired Goods

The Philadelphia City Council unanimously voted today to clamp down on the sale of expired goods, passing a bill that will "prohibit the sale of expired non-prescription drugs, infant formula, baby food, milk, milk products and eggs." The measure, backed unanimously by the Council's Public Health Committee, also offers a bonus to consumers who discover expired goods on store shelves: half off an unexpired container of each expired item they find. CVS has been caught selling expired products multiple times at its stores in Philadelphia.

"I thank City Council for taking this necessary step to protect consumers. No store should be allowed to sell out of date milk, infant formula and over the counter medicines," said Lance Haver, the City Consumer Affairs Director.

 "CVS markets itself as a solution for overworked and overstressed women. When the mayor signs this bill, women will have one less thing to stress about: we will know that if CVS and other retailers put expired products on their shelves, at least they will pay a price," said Dee  Johnson of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

The news comes today as consumer advocates are holding events outside CVS stores in 15 cities around the country over the sale of expired goods, among other issues.

CVS agreed last week to pay nearly $1 million to the State of California to settle allegations of misleading customers and unfair business practices stemming from the sale of expired products and failing to adequately protect and dispose of customers' confidential personal and medical information. CVS agreed to require bimonthly removal of expired products and improved employee training in its more than 800 California stores; however that agreement only applies to California. Advocates are calling on CVS to extend the reforms mandated by the settlement beyond California and adopt new corporate policies and reporting around expired goods in its stores.

Posted by Alex G. on June 18, 2009 4:54 PM

Tell CVS: Stop Selling Expired Goods!



Actions in fifteen cities today called on CVS to improve corporate policies addressing the sale of expired products in the company's stores.

CVS recently agreed to pay nearly $1 million for selling expired products and improperly disposing of patient information in California, a victory for consumers in the state. In addition to the fine, CVS agreed to adopt new policies and retrain employees to remove expired products in its 800 stores in the state. The stipulations only apply to stores in California, however, despite the fact that CVS has been caught selling expired goods in numerous states.

Posted by Alex G. on June 18, 2009 1:36 PM

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

more-than-the-advertised-price.gifAfter 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

Bridgeport News 8 on Expired Products at CVS



Bridgeport, CT's WTNH's story on expired products at CVS stores in Fairfield County.

Posted by Alex G. on May 22, 2009 10:28 AM

What People Are Saying About CVS's Expired Products

At actions in nine cities today, community members, consumer advocates and social activists spoke out against CVS's ongoing practice of selling expired products. Here is some of what was said today.

"I live in this community, right nearby this CVS. What bothers me is that CVS doesn't seem to have any problem taking our money, but seems less concerned about how they treat us in return. Rhode Island subsidizes CVS in many ways. We have a right to expect CVS to respect the community and ensure safe, quality products." - John Prince, Direct Action for Rights and Equality, Providence, RI.

"CVS needs to clean up its act immediately and stop putting the health of our communities at risk. CVS's record of selling expired goods is disgraceful. You'd think CVS would figure out a way to get it right by now if it really cared, but maybe it thinks it's good business sense to sell us bad goods. I think CVS is dead wrong." - Shaun Martinez, United Students Against Sweatshops, Baltimore, MD.

"[Selling expired products] is a serious health concern. In a time where we have record high unemployment rate and thus yielding a high rate of uninsured we can't afford to have corporations like CVS selling us expired goods -- eggs and mayonnaise, are dangerous when they go bad. The well-being of our youth relies on well balanced nutrition. What sort of message are we sending to our community and our state when we allow companies like CVS to sell infant formula and medicine for kids that are expired well over 6 months! This is not something to play around with. As a state we must do all we can to ensure that we fight for a healthy RI - understanding that we ALL suffer when we allow this type of discrepancies to go unanswered."  - Ivette Luna, Ocean State Action, Providence, RI.
Continue reading What People Are Saying About CVS's Expired Products.

Posted by Alex G. on May 21, 2009 2:58 PM

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