CVS Stores in Massachusetts Caught with Most Illegal Overcharges of any Retailer in the State
CVS Caremark Corp., the nation's largest pharmacy chain, is by far the most penalized food retailer for overcharging in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations' 2008 inspection reports. Analysis of the reports was released today as consumer advocates held a press conference at the Massachusetts state house - download a copy of that report here.The Boston Globe's Jenn Abelson explains CVS's overcharging violations have shot up dramatically since last year:
"CVS Caremark Corp. last year had a 67 percent increase in the number of state violations for allegedly overcharging customers...according to a report to be released today...[T]he number of overcharging violations - defined as charging more at the register than the price in an advertisement, on a shelf sign, or on the item itself - soared to 711, from 425.Consumer advocates held a press conference at the Massachusetts state house. Advocates warned shoppers to check their CVS drugstore receipts and called on lawmakers to do more to strengthen pricing protections. This is the second year in a row that CVS Caremark Corp. has led state food retailers in overcharging fines.
By comparison, rival Walgreens had 71 violations for overcharging.
'The amount of overcharges inspectors found at CVS has increased at a startling rate,' said Deanne Dworski-Riggs, an organizer on the Cure CVS campaign, initiated by Change to Win and other partner organizations. 'Even after the Globe reported on this issue last year, overcharging continues to be a serious problem. I was shocked at the number of overcharges we found at CVS stores.'"
This fact is not a coincidence, according to a CVS former manager who spoke to the Globe:
"Aaron Weintrob, who worked at CVS for 14 years until leaving last year, said it is costlier for CVS to follow the pricing laws than to pay the fines.Consumer advocates at today's press conference called on legislators to strengthen consumer protection laws like item pricing, and increase penalties and enforcement to deter further violations from retailers like CVS.
'It's deliberate,' said Weintrob, who now works as a retail salesman in Massachusetts. 'If price accuracy was important, CVS would have the measures in place - signs, item pricing, employing people to maintain accuracy - to follow the law. Fines are simply looked at as the cost of doing business.'"
CVS called a leader in pricing violations [Boston Globe, 5/7/09]
Posted by Alex G. on May 7, 2009, 11:23 AM
4 Comments
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This is not cvs' fault, it is the store managers. They are in charge of making sure the prices in their store are accurate. It is just poor managent skills
Cure Cvs Now sucks.....Unions sucks. I wish they would let everyone know what the real reason for Cure Cvs Now...to infest the drug retailers.
J, or Bob, or Tom Ryan or whoever the hell you are... what eloquent and thoughtful arguments you present! Do you just cut and paste, or do you take the time to custom tailer each "Cure CVS/union suck" post from scratch? I guess you can afford the extra time since CVS probably has you doing these posts on the clock anyhow.
So CVS rips off consumers in violation of state and local laws and you want to talk about unions, eh? This is about BASIC CONSUMER RIGHTS and SERIOUS REPEATED CORPORATE ABUSES. Stick to the issue and debate the facts if you want to argue.
It's the Managers fault?
Who's responsible for hiring them?
Who's resonsible for their actions?
THE COMPANY!!!!!
Just look at Wal-Mart.