Aaron didn’t want to be a jerk, but he also didn’t want to pay $5.79 for a twelve-pack of Dr Pepper when the sign on the store shelf clearly said that it was $5.19. Instead of overriding the price and acknowledging the store’s own sign, the cashier entered a battle of obstinate wills, from which there emerged no clear victor.

Turns out I had some issues with CVS customer service over a pricing mistake. It was just before 10pm and I stopped in CVS to get a 12 pack of Diet Dr. Pepper. I checked the price, $5.19, and brought it to the register with my CVS card. Unfortunately, it rang up for $5.79. No problem I thought, I’m sure the cashier would just manually override the price.

He didn’t.

I insisted that the price was $5.19 and he rudely told me it wasn’t. I assumed he was mistaken because I checked the price twice. The price of regular Dr. Pepper was $5.79 and the price of diet was $5.19. Annoyed, the cashier rudely stormed away from his register and “checked the price” at the other side of the store.

Expecting to be vindicated, he instead coldly told me that the price was indeed $5.79. I apologized, assuming I was mistaken because he was the CVS worker and probably knows more about it than me. I went back to double-check prices and took some pictures, which showed that the mistake was on his part. I brought a package of regular Dr. Pepper, and that scanned at $5.79 as well, the same as the previously scanned Diet Dr. Pepper.

I asked him to honor the price on the shelf, and he refused. I asked him if he had actually checked the price a few minutes ago and he said that he had not.

I ended up thanking him for his time and leaving rather than causing a scene two minutes before their 10pm closing time. However, I was really dismayed about the incredibly low level of customer service, the refusal to even check a price, and then the refusal to honor the printed price.

Attached are the two pictures I snapped. You can see that the Diet Dr. Pepper is labeled DRPEP DT 12PK as $5.19 and the regular Dr. Pepper is labeled DRPEP 12PK.

I rarely shop at CVS and will certainly not be going in there again after this. Is this the level of service I should expect at all CVS locations, or was this an isolated incident?

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