January 9, 2009
CVS Caremark Corporation
Corporate Headquarters
One CVS Drive
Woonsocket, RI 02895
Dear Sir or Madam,
I began shopping at CVS regularly last May, and I have generally been pleased with your company’s customer service.
However, my experience tonight left much to be desired.
I came to the store with a list of specific items to purchase based on the deals I found by studying your weekly circular, CVS store coupons, Internet manufacturer coupons and manufacturer coupons from my local paper. Since sale prices were not marked on the shelves, I carefully consulted my list and checked the price of all my items at the ExtraCare scanner to make sure I was purchasing the correct items.
When I got to the register, the cashier rung up all my items, then started going through my coupons one by one. Without scanning any of them, she read each one and looked through all my bags to make sure I had purchased each item, and challenged some of my coupons (”Did you purchase three of these? I only see one.” “Yes, the other two in the second bag.”) Because I had a lot of coupons, this took quite a while.
Although I gave her my coupons in the correct order for them to go through the register correctly without causing any problems (store coupons, then manufacturer’s coupons, then ECBs), she then scanned them through in the opposite order, again reading each one aloud and hesitating before she scanned them.
I have enclosed a copy of my receipt, but here are the items I purchased and coupons I used:
- For the $10 ECB when you purchase $20 worth of Johnson’s products:
1 Listerine Whitening Pen ($10), 1 Carefree 92 count liners ($4.50), 2 Stayfree 32 count pads ($4.50 each), 1 BandAid 20 count character bandages ($3).
Total Before Coupons: $26.50.
Coupons Used: CVS coupon for $5 off $25 of Johnson’s products (received in the mail), CVS coupon for $3 off Listerine Whitening Pen (from the CVS Beauty Book), manufacturer’s Internet coupon for $2 off Listering Whitening Pen, manufacturer’s buy one Stayfree product get one free coupon, manufacturer’s $1 off Carefree product
Total After Coupons: $11
- For the $5 ECB when you purchase $15 worth of Bayer, Aleve or Alka-Seltzer products:
3 Bayer 100 count tablets ($5 each)
Total Before Coupons: $15
Coupons Used: CVS coupon for $3 off any $15 purchase of FSA-eligible items (from CRT), CVS coupon for $2 off any $10 purchase of pain medication (from CRT), CVS coupon for $1 off any Bayer purchase (from CRT), 2 manufacturer’s $1 off Bayer product
Total After Coupons: $7
- One Revlon Lip Gloss
Originally priced at $7.99, on clearance for 50% off
Total Before Coupons: $3.99
Coupons Used: CVS coupon for $2 off any Revlon color cosmetic, manufacturer’s $2 off Revlon color cosmetic
Total After Coupons: Free
- 2 Boxes of Hallmark Christmas Cards
On clearance for 75% off
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to use so many CVS coupons for the $5 ECB when you purchase $15 worth of Bayer products, but I thought that since I had four FSA-eligible products totaling $18, including $15 worth of pain medication, it would be OK. However, I have been wrong before, and I don’t argue with the cashier if the register beeps and I’m told the coupon cannot be accepted.
After giving me a hard time about having $4 worth of Revlon coupons for a product that cost $3.99 ($4, had the register rounded in the store’s favor), this cashier manually pushed through the CVS coupon for $2 off $10 in pain medication that beeped without saying anything about it.
Then, she came to my CVS coupon for $3 off $15 worth of FSA-eligible products coupon. “I don’t know what this is,” she said, and I tried to explain that it’s for medicine and other items that are indicated on the receipt. She tried to scan it, and it beeped. She said the register was telling her I didn’t purchase enough eligible products - that I had only $6.35 worth of eligible products. I tried to explain that this was probably because she scanned the manufacturer’s coupons first, so now the register thinks I only purchased $6 worth of FSA-eligible products, when I actually purchased $18. She then manually pushed through the coupon, saying, “I’ll do it this time, but don’t come to me next time you’re here because I’m not going to do it. Something is wrong. I don’t think this is right. You have too many coupons for the same thing.”
I responded that I should be able to use one CVS coupon and one manufacturer’s coupon for each product. She then said that because I was using so many coupons, I was basically getting paid to purchase the items (technically, I used $3.99 in ECBs, paid $20.42 in gift cards and cash, and received $15 in ECBs). “That’s why people shop here,” I said. “I come here every week and never have any problems. It’s completely legitimate.” She replied, “Maybe to you it’s legitimate.”
Obviously, I was angered and embarrassed, especially since there was now a line behind me.
While I understand that coupon fraud is a growing problem, I don’t expect to have my ethics questioned and be treated like a criminal when I am, in fact, a paying customer. Given these economic times and people’s increasing desire to save money, I would suggest you properly train your employees in your coupon policies and in basic customer service. If the number of people taking advantage of these deals is a threat to your bottom line, I would rather see your loyalty programs eliminated than be treated like I’m “getting away with something.”
If I have misused or misunderstood your coupon policy, please let me know. Also, I hope that you will personally contact the store’s manager about this issue. In the meantime, I have shared this letter with the readers of my personal finance blog, Finance Gets Personal: www.financegetspersonal.com.
Sincerely,
Finance Girl <—– no, that’s not really what I’m going to put!
