Many people expressed surprise that drug retailer CVS is a participant in our Worst Company in America tournament. In addition to the everyday issues that a pharmacy/drugstore creates for consumers, though, CVS also owns prescription benefits administrator Caremark. Brandon is a Caremark customer who takes a venerable but still useful medication called Synthroid. He recently ran into a weird situation with his refill, where he was switched to the name-brand medication for no discernible reason. Twice. [More]
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Worst Company In America Round One: CVS Vs. Johnson & Johnson
By 3.22.11
Here’s an interesting battle between a drugstore chain and the drug company whose products line the chain’s shelves — or at least they used to before they were all recalled. [More]
At CVS, The Word 'Clearance' Is Essentially Meaningless
By 3.15.11
Reader Juhgail noticed “clearance” tags on an item that she was planning to buy anyway. Since “clearance” nearly always also means “sale” in retail, it’s nice when that happens. Except in CVS’s reality vortex, “clearance” actually means “we stuck a shelf tag on it, but left it at the same price.” Makes sense.
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Reader Crafts Effective Complaint Letter, Scores 50% Refund From CVS
By 12.29.10
Reader CMM was able to score a partial refund from CVS after they flubbed up her gift photobook order. Instead of bound and ready books, they handed her husband a pile of loose pages and covers and said “go to town.” Some of the pages had minor ink spots on them too. [More]
I Do Not Appreciate Your Drug-Pushing Calls, CVS
By 10.27.10
Josh used to get his prescriptions at CVS. He stopped when the company kept calling him, pushing more drugs, and refused to stop calling no matter who he asked. CVS seems to believe that they can annoy customers into purchasing more drugs. [More]
Should CVS Have Sold $21 Inhaler To Asthma Sufferer Who Only Had $20?
By 10.15.10
A woman in New Jersey suffering from an asthma attack had to call a paramedic when her local CVS wouldn’t sell her a $21 inhaler for $20. [More]
FDA Does Spit-Take Over Mouthwash Labels Saying They Fight Gum Disease
By 9.29.10
The FDA just smacked the taste out of the mouths of Johnson & Johnson, Walgreens and CVS over advertising that their mouthwash fights gum disease, without having science to prove it. [More]
Get A Free Flu Shot At CVS After Spending $30 On P&G Stuff
By 8.30.10
CVS is doing a deal now where you can get a free flu shot after you spend $30 on qualifying P&G products like Bounty, Tide, and Pampers. Sorry, MA, NY, NJ, HI and Puerto Rico, the offer is not valid in your states. Check your local store for details. [More]
CVS Stores To Get Redbox Kiosks
By 8.5.10
In an attempt to spread their retail footprint even further, Redbox has made a deal with pharmacy chain CVS to begin rolling out their video rental kiosks at stores across the country. [More]
10 Stores With Cheap Generic Drugs
By 7.20.10
Cheap generic drugs are good for when you’re between jobs, between insurance, or if you’ve just got a prescription drug plan that is costing you too much money. You might find, as Wise Bread did, that a generic version of your medication actually causes fewer side effects in addition to being more cost-effective. [More]
NYC CVS Caught Dumping Old Prescriptions On Sidewalk
By 6.13.10
One would think that, after paying out over $2 million in 2009 for improperly disposing customers’ prescription info, CVS would have a tighter lid on how they handle this sensitive information. If so, someone at a CVS pharmacy in Manhattan didn’t get the news. [More]
CVS Misprices Meds, Offers Refunds If You Say Please
By 5.28.10
When CVS discovered that prices listed for brand-name drugs on its SilverScript Medicare site were mistakenly displayed at about 4% less than the drugs were actually being sold for, the company quickly fixed the glitch, according to a report in today’s Wall Street Journal. But what happened to customers who saw the “low” prices and ended up paying more at retail? According to The Journal, CVS cut a deal with the government, allowing the company to offer refunds only to customers who asked for them. CVS then sent letters to the customers that said they could call and discuss “your options,” and made no mention of the possibility of a refund. [More]
Take Your Recalled Drugs To Walgreens, CVS For Refund
By 5.7.10
Got recalled Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl? Want a refund? Don’t want to deal with the online form? CVS and Walgreens have told the media that consumers can bring recalled medicines to their stores for a refund. [More]
CVS Is Charging $.20 For This Free Toothbrush & Tongue "Scrapper"
By 4.7.10
Consumerist reader Dan recently went to his local CVS to score some toothpaste when he noticed that the store was offering two versions of the same 6-oz. tube of extra whitening, maximum strength, sensitive toothpaste. One was just the toothpaste while the other came with a free toothbrush… And then he looked at the price tags. [More]
Watch Out For Drugstore Price Traps
By 4.7.10
I was at a Rite-Aid a couple of weeks back and went to pick up some cheap dish detergent, and the bottles that I remembered being less than $1.50 were all in the $3-4 range. I left and found sanely-priced soap at another store a few blocks away. Our reader Stan just wrote in with a similar example, where he caught his local CVS charging him three times as much as a nearby competitor. [More]
Walmart Wins: Top 10 Most Valuable Retail Brands
By 3.11.10
Interbrand Design Forum– part of a global brand consulting firm– has ranked the top retail brands and guess what? Walmart is most valuable. [More]
Maybe It Just Needs A Little Love
By 12.12.09
We’ve kept quiet about the rampant commercialization of classic holiday programming, in part because we kinda like our plush Bumble, and in part because, well, what’s more commercial in the first place than a made-for-TV holiday cartoon? But we have to draw the line with this little item we found in a local CVS. Haven’t these people listened to Linus? Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about? [More]
CVS Challenges You To Explain Their Reverse Sale
By 12.4.09
Reader Kyle took this photo of a “discount” at CVS. [More]
