Retail

MrConsumer was shocked to see a counter sign at each register at his local CVS in Massachusetts a few weeks ago that proclaimed:

Under the CVS Scan Right Guarantee, if an item scans higher than the shelf price sign or price in their ad, you get the item free up to $4 or you get $4 off if the item was more expensive.

I asked the both the cashier and the manager about it, and they acted like this was the first time they were seeing it.

Checking with the PR folks at CVS, they discovered that the signs were only meant to be posted in California and somehow they had erroneously shown up in Massachusetts. Good thing, in a certain sense, because our price accuracy guarantee (which MrConsumer authored almost 40 years ago) calls for getting up to a $10 grocery item free (or $10 off a higher-priced item) if it scans wrong. Some states like Michigan have their own bounty law for scanning errors. And some other chains have a similar guarantee.

But what’s this California only CVS price guarantee? There is no reference to it all on the CVS website. In 2011, CVS agreed to settle a case brought by the Los Angeles, Riverside, and Ventura county District Attorney’s offices for almost two million dollars. The company also had to establish a price guarantee. Then in 2015 and again in 2018, the same California DAs settled with CVS for another $2.4-million for scanner errors in each of those years.

This all goes to show that we as shoppers need to be vigilant at the checkout to ensure we are charged the price that was represented to us at the shelf.

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UPDATE: San Diego Digital Coupon Ordinance
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Back in April, San Diego passed a city ordinance requiring supermarkets to provide printed versions of digital coupons in-store for the many people who either don’t have or can’t use the internet or smartphones. Then, a few weeks ago, after lobbying by supermarkets, they were about to amend the ordinance in such a way as to make it completely meaningless because it would not apply to any digital coupons offered via the store’s loyalty card program. Councilors did not understand that all digital coupons only work through such programs.

The day before the vote was to take place, MrConsumer wrote to each city councilor explaining that they were about to make a huge mistake. To his surprise, they listened and deleted the exclusion that swallowed up the rule. And they made compliance easier for stores by allowing them to choose one of several methods by which they could offer equivalent in-store savings to those shoppers who don’t use digital coupons. Whewwww!

The San Diego ordinance gets a second reading soon and is slated to go into effect in October.