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New York AG Nabs CVS, Rite Aid Selling Expired Products

    • Vicks for chest congestion? If it is VapoRub it should last for years. I have a "new" plastic opened jar and it is fine. The experation date, Nov 1999. The old jar ,preplastic glass, is also pre exteration dates. I would guess 15 years old. It is fine too.
      The govt. wants experation dates, so they put them on. Since they have to test the product to that date they only go out about a year as it is costly to test for 15 years and the test would not be done yet. There is an older story in the WSJ about the Army testing how long stuff can last and for most stuff it is much more than most people think.
      Sounds like a very smelly NY politician trying to make a name for himself.
      The sad part is poor African nations don't get good drugs and suppies because aid will not take them if they are with in months of experation dates. So they get nothing.
      I used to buy at a cloesout drug store and when a item got close to experation it was a deal. As for milk I watch that experation date, but even then temprature is everything.

    • does cvs expect thier emplyees to constantly check for outdates when they have 2 employees working on any given shift??? Seems like to many chiefs in corporate trying to run stores without ever going in one. Lets put more hours in the stores so they can be run properly and issues like this wont happen.
      p.s. It takes more than 6 hours (W.M.)to check your entire store for outdates!

    • I've seen a lot of old milk being sold in CVS.

    • Does it really matter, who shops at a drug store anyway?

    • Tons of people shop at drug stores!!! Its not like CVS is purposly selling out dated items. I hardly believe that these stores' goal are to sell expired products to thier customers. I agree with "how in the world." I work in retail and there is plenty to do on top of to try and keep up with being under staffed and waiting on customers.

    • Sounds like a politician trying to get some votes. Get his head out of his posterior and worry about the drug issues in NY, the unemployment in NY, the HIGH gas prices, and his mistress.

    • retract the mistress comment, very unprofessional and uncalled for. I apologize!
      He is to represent us in NY and I feel there should be more of a concentration on larger issues here in NY.

    • cvs has a program where every month you have to check the store for out dates it is up to the manager to follow through with the procedure

    • I would have to agree it does happen but by no means there being sold purposely it a matter of lack of hours yea i would love to see someone to complete the 22 categories in 6 hrs. Gotta love it.... Mr. Ryan we need more hours bottom line!!!

    • I feel quite certain that CVS and Rite Aid were not the only violators so let's not just pick on them, or is there some axe to grind in the matter? Release the entire report and get on with something a little more important than this.

    • i work for cvs and they have outdated items pulled every month. its a pain to go through all the items and check but it gets done per company policy. customer should be checking milk because milk vendors will bring it in expired already so cvs shouldnt be at fault for that.

    • To Ed: When you go to a closeout store, you normally get a discount, and you also know that these are closeout items.

      If the products are old or expired, then at least CVS could separate them from remaining stock and mark them down.

    • cuomo is try the same tricks splitter did as atty. and is cuomo doing the same as his buddy??? what about the oil co. and their high prices that are un-called for instead of picking on good companys

    • Right after this story hit, all CVS stores in the nation were instructed to go and pull ALL of their outdates in every section of the store. Last night at the store I work at we pulled $3,000 worth of out-dated merch.

    • Outdates are bad.
      However, one thing people need to keep in mind regarding these stores is that their payroll often times allows for only bare minimum staffing. Literally. There are many many cases in drugstores across the country where 85% of the day only has 2!!! people working on the entire front end of the store. With such minimal staffing allowed, customers may blame the people at store level, but ultimately these companies do not give the resources needed to Do all the tasks. From Recalls, to changing prices, to stocking shelves, making schedules, assisting customers, setting planograms, washing windows, mopping the floor... etc...
      None of these tasks are difficult... but they do take time.
      There is simply a lack of hours allowed by these companies to do every task as in depth as they should be done. Until companies give up the "single greatest controllable expense is payroll" line of thought, there are always going to be issues with outdated items, customer service issues and theft.

    • Also I agree with how in the world. There is just not enough workers to do these things on top of their other tasks. I know from experience.

    • I work at CVS as a Pharmacist and I understand how hard it is for the front store staff to pull out of dates b/c they just don't have enough hours alotted by corporate to allow someone to do it. However, as a consumer, I always check dates on products as I take them off the shelf to purchase them. I have an infant too and have baby formula out of date in every store I have ever purchased it. I usually just set the expired can on the floor to call someone's attention to it. We routinely check prescription bottles for out of dates and send them back but I have many hours alotted to do that in addition to filling prescriptions.

    • Opportunistic politicians...I can't believe this is what they are spending our money and their time on! What a crock!

      All the B.S. that's going on and they're worried about outdated Vick''ve seriously got to be kidding me!

      As a taxpayer, this saddens me.

    • my fear is that I will go into the CVS for my Synthroid and be handed pills from the year of the flood. how can I tell if these pills are good or not? Is there a telltale sign or color to determine the "age" of the pill or do I just rely on the faith of the
      pharmaceutical staff???
      sour milk I can return. what about those pills?

    • I'll have to carry a magnifying glass with me to check the dates on all the drug items from now on. I think they print those things that tiny so that you SHOULDN'T be able to read them!

    • I work for a cvs/pharmacy in Indiana, and i understand whats going on. We check our outdates once a month, but with soo few hours, its just not possible to do every section with every item. We have to get cleaning, planograms, customers, all that stuff done, and naturally it seems outdates fall behind. At my store we do go through once a month, and take two full days to do it, but mistakes happen. however, we ALWAYS get the medicine/food/baby as the first priority. Mr. Ryan....WE NEED MORE HOURS to run our store effectively.

    • I think as an investor this will give customers the confident to continue to shop at rite aid .

    • they treat their customers the same as their employees

    • I too work for CVS as a shift manager. During the day we usually have 1 manager and 1 clerk. The manager is doing the daily stuff that management gives us to do, while the front cashier runs the photo lab, runs the register, answers the phone, and helps customers. Then at change of shift, again usually 1 manager and 1 cashier. If hours are over even the slightest at the end of the week, we get our butts chewed. Then we also get chewed out for not being caught up on planograms, workload assignments, out of dates, etc. We each only have 2 hands and 2 feet. We are not super people. Mr. Ryan....If customer service is a priority to you then give us the hours to take care of them in every way needed!!!!!!

    • Im an assistant store manager for a cvs. I agree with the person above. I work at a 24 hour store so we have more payroll than most but we are high volume and end up needing more help. Everyone one gets burnt out fast! MORE HOURS!! by the way we checked outof dates and had very little.

    • Big chains like CVS and Rite Aid have incredible multi-million-dollar computerized inventory systems that record all the prescriptions physicians write which they resell to Health Information Organizations like Verispan and IMS) for billions of dollars. So please, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmarts, etc: PLEASE do not insult our intelligence by telling us you don't know when products, esp. drugs expire on your shelves. Every day, your pharmacy computers should be alerting your staff as to when particular inventory is about 1 month from expiration and then 1 day from expiration so it can be pulled off the shelves. By selling expired meds to people and then collecting payment from their insurance companies, YOU ARE COMMITTING HEALTH FRAUD in violation of federal and state False Claims Laws. I hope the AGs go after you all as aggressively as they have gone after physicians who render shoddy or no treatment and bill Medicare and insurers for it.

    • It'll be interesting to see if the feds and the state AGs charge these chain pharmacies with False Claims charges for selling expired meds to patients then charging their insurances, Medicare or Medicaid for it. If the feds/states did, they would find a whole wellspring of false claims revenue (through paybacks, fines, etc.) that would go back to government, aka "taxpayer" coffers. Good luck!

    • out of dates is not good, but with cut hours...what needs to be done doesnt get finished, or at least NOT on time. these things take time, which we have none of now!!!!!!!!!!! if customer service is important we need more hours!!!!!!!! and to the person above (no excuses) i dont know what exactly you read or what exactly you think you know, but we do not have a computer system that tells us when stuff goes out of date! it is clear that you have never worked in retail and are just talking out of your ass because you have nothing better to do. but its a really good idea why dont you go and invent it.

    • If you're busy screaming abuot false claim charges, why don't you look at the article again. It was purely front end stock they checked, not prescription drugs. If they wanted to know about prescription drugs, they would need to do an inspection, not just purchase items - after all, how many prescription bottles tell you the expiration date? They don't - you're told to throw them out after 1 year at the latest if you haven't used it. An inspector would have to come look at the dates on the bottles you're dispensing from. Outdates are never good but I agree with several people above - if they want stores to be able to keep up on everything they want them to do (including the new things they're constantly adding), they need to look at the payroll they're providing to do it. I'm aware of a couple stores in my area that do not even have payroll to have 2 people in the store at all times - they have to schedule a cashier an hour after they open many days to meet their budget. Yet customer service is a priority! Along with everything else they expect to have done! It leads to burn-out and unhappy employees to go along with issues such as outdated product.

    • Retail employees are paid a minimum, & at chains like CVS & Rite Aid, they're paid less than comparable jobs at stores like Target or Walmart. This doesn't apply to Pharmacists of course, but, they have nothing to do with anything outside the pharmacy - it's treated at both CVS & Rite Aid almost as a separate store within a store.

      Both CVS & Rite Aid say employees should be cycling stock on the shelves, and getting rid of expired products - but that's just one very small part of a long list of demands including things like setting up sale ads & keeping the shelves full - and those last 2 are where the district mgmt really paid attention.

      Having outdated merchandise on the shelf was entirely predictable. Now that the District mgmt can't rely on the excuse that "they were told", instead of working on keeping shelves stocked and prices current, hourly employees will focus on outdated merchandise for the next week or two. If this had gotten more press, I'd also have expected a flurry of coupons for switching prescriptions to competitors, but without that it's really a flash in the pan that'll just boost the NY coffers once it's settled.

    • Instead of constantly changing every planogram once or twice a year, that take numerous hours every week to complete, lets just update the ones we have, Get rid of half (or maybe 2/3) of the 'planogram staff' and put those hours in the stores. In fact you could probably get rid of half the jobs at the corporate level and it would not hurt the buisness. Have you looked at the millions of dollars in stock options our upper management have been cashing in?? $177,000,000, yeah $177 million! in the last year alone WOW!! Meanwhile Walgreen...around $10 million. I guess thats one reason why cvs makes for good pickin on.

    • I,ll tell you strait.Every time this type of news comes to light there is something behind it. Who do you think is behind this.?Over paid union bosses taking there cut out of $7 an hour cashiers!! like 1199/.....

    • I work for CVS and I must say though this is not suprising to me everyone needs to realize that this in fact is a very hard subject to keep up with. To "NO EXCUSES" although you may think computers run our store they dont, we dont have a super computer keeping track of outdates etc. As for pharmacy outdates are checked very often and nothing is ever filled with old drugs! On to Tom Ryan my CEO yes we do need more hours in our stores but with the economy the way it is and oli prices the way they are it is very hard to do the company would be losing major profit. One more thing, A year ago Walgreens was targeted by the media for having un trained employees working in the pharmacy and CVS/Rite Aid were left out of it. I have a feeling something more then just public safty sparked this, just saying, why werent other retailers targeted. I also worked for walgreens and they dontdo anything different...

    • Here come another training module, ivr call, compliance sign off, on how to spot outdated merchandise while...sweeping, dusting, cleaning, fronting & facing, backing up the rx dept., doing a p.o.g., unloading a warehouse truck & putting out the merchandise, scanning outs, pushing overstock, doing price changes, product withdrawls, new item cut in's, amm labels, putting up ad signs, taking down ad signs, taking a break or lunch, running the photo lab, answering phone, checking in vendors, or even while helping out at other store during an inventory or remodel. Oh I almost forgot....waiting on customers.(yeah we still try to give good service, THEY are the reason WE have jobs)

    • I am a store manager for CVS and I have to agree it is very hard with no hours in the stores we litarally are running on two people a shift and sometimes one. Its sad to see when you got to a fast food establishment and they have more people behind the counter in one shift then we do in one whole day to run a store. WE NEED MORE HOURS.

    • i work at cvs and we had to pull outdates today because of this.....we had 3 carriages of food full of outdates. and two baskets of vitimins amoung more.

    • I work for CVS in a very small store with limited hours and a handful of employees. While most of my time is spent in the pharmacy, I do occasionally work in the front store and like the many who have posted before me.....THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HOURS!!! We have a manager and 1....that's right....1 cashier all day. That 1 lonely cashier is suppose to do price changes, cycle counts, wait on customers, do new item cut in's, wash the windows, vacuum, front and face etc...
      We are lucky if we have more than 4 employees in the whole store in a whole day and that is including the Pharmacist and the store manager!

      Maybe outdated merchandise wouldn't be a problem on our shelves if we had the extra hours in our stores so that someone could specifically do that on a daily or weekly basis. Sometimes the trouble is getting outdated merchandise from the warehouse, but that is few and far between and if so it never gets put out on the shelf in our store.

      As for the outdated drugs in the pharmacy, they are checked quarterly and sent back before the end of the month. CVS would never knowingly or intentionally sell outdated merchandise or drugs just for a profit.

    • Nice to see CVS finally get caught. I live in NJ. I brought expired merchandise up to the counter, told them it was expired and that it should be removed. Same expired product was back on the shelf next day. CVS is getting what they deserve, bad publicity.

    • They got it coming to them. What do they think happens when they cut payroll and still expect more from their employees and more to get done?

      Glad it's biting them in the rear. Maybe they'll realize less employees/payroll is not the best way to run a business.

    • CVS isn't trying to "put one over" on anyone. Unfortunately, things may slip by and that is still no excuse. Everyone must try to do a better job and it is a serious matter, but it sounds to me that Cuomo has a hidden agenda and has singled out two of the biggest pharmacy chains.

    • The main issue is that there aren't hours to be given out to employees to get things done. And why are CVS and Rite-Aide the only ones being targetted here? You can't tell me that Walgreens and Giant and Walmart, etc don't have expired things on the shelf. As for the milk, CVS is not at fault for that. At my store, we have the laziest milk vendor I have ever seen. He will leave expired milk in the coolers and give us expired milk. There are so many things to be done in the front of a store and there just aren't the hours to get everything done. And whoever created that task in the workload manager that it would 1 person 6 hours, has lost their mind. Come work at an understaffed store (which it sounds everyone is) when you've got shoplifters to catch, price changes, cycle counts, customers, sale signs, cleaning, etc to do and then tell me how long it takes and how many people are needed to do it. More hours please Mr. Ryan!!!

    • It's pretty stunning that these stores don't have more staff, b/c the front end sells at least half the amount of stuff that a large supermarket sells, and the pharmacy banks a large enough margin to hire more people. Some of the larger supermarkets have at least 1 stocker per aisle, even with its razor-sharp margins. Oh well, typical short-sighted, greedy CEO you are, Tom Ryan.

    • Outdates, outdates, we're talking about outdates. Let's talk about a corporate culture that seems obsessed with squeezing blood from a stone. It's constant shananigans and wink and a nod procedures will eventually do it in. It takes people and time to run a successful store. Until Tommy Boy figures that out, we will continue to be the Black Sheep whipping boy of the Drugstore industry.

    • I have never worked for a company that forces people to do so much with so little. They do not care about their patients, their customers, or most importantly there people. I have worked in stores where people got no breaks or lunches because they had no relief. In this area we went through a string of robberies because stores had to open with just one person because their hours were so limited. There is not time to check outdates, do LP quizzes, do certifications, run photo, push sales, review reports, train employees, face, unload a truck box by box, respond to email, take conference calls, deal with customer and employee issues, etc. with 2 people per shift. Why does Walgreens have fewer stores but make more money? You be the judge. Engage that!

    • You know what's even worse, and I know this isn't a wage forum, but, for what we do, and the responsibility CVS workers maintain, even the lowest-paid workers, we deserve much much more. I just graduated from college, and I'm still making 6.50 an hour, the same amount I made around a year an a half ago. This is only slightly more than the new minimum wage that will be implemented soon. And, to better all that, I just graduated from college! I've never seen a company that expects so much from their workers yet never rewards them for good work or accomplishment.

    • As a CVS Pharmacist and former Walgreens RPh, I can tell you that none of these major drug chains are giving the alloted payroll to complete simple tasks. If Cuomo is worried about outdated merchandise on the shleves he should also be worried about all the possible deadly errors that could occur in the pharmacies. CVS is a great company, but Mr. Ryan and the rest of the executives are fooling themselves if they think we have enough manpower to fulfill any tasks other that run around like maniacs with no break for 14 hours. They expect us to create a culture of engagement and emotional connections with people. WHATEVER!! CVS is full of it, they take away all of my overlap pharmacists hours and give me an increased budget. They always expect you to do more with less. Good luck with your "Man on the moon" Mr. Ryan (he'll know what that means). I feel for the Front Store management

    • I feel for the front store management, they get crapped on and then they expect them to stop everything they are doing to check outdated product that should only take 6 hours!!! Come on Mr. Ryan, get into a store and listen to your people. Screw Wallstreet and the earnings they want us to meet. You want to b e the employer of choice, you have got to show the people on the front lines you care. Spend some money on payroll. We can give better service than any other drugstore out there. WE JUST NEED MORE HELP!!! You wan to do patient care right, give us the money to take care of our paitents. That includes the front store as well. Tell Rikard to get on the ball with this. We need you guys. Your kidding yourself if you think morale is good in the stores. Am I getting my point accross to you yet!!

    • When I go to your stores there is never anyone to help because there aren't any employees there. Maybe this is the reason why you have so many outdates?

    • You are exactly right CVS customer!! Make sure you check your medications before leaving. These pharmacists are overworked, they are asking us to fill over 500 prescriptions per day with no overlap pharmacist help. I would hate to be the patient that is script # 500. We are playing with peoples lives Mr. Ryan. Listen to your people!! NOT WALLSTREET!!

    • Once again we have kicked ourselves in the rear. Payroll control, payroll control, payroll control. There has to be a limit. I think we have found it. We cannot hire and train good people because we don't have the hours to bring them in. Any manager from an outside company would quit in a month because they are probably used to managing not checking and stocking and all the projects suited for employees that, whoops we don't have the hours for. Now field management has the nerve to pin this on the stores? I would like to see Tom run a store on 200 hours a week! Maybe if more time and attention was spent on the Front Store we could avoid things like this. What shady money saving scheme is next, we've had the omeprazole scam, now the outdate scandal, what next I ask? Answer this Tom, and do not dare place the blame for this on the stores. Your ivory towers are tarnished, and don't by CLR from CVS it's outdated!

    • Does anyone wonder why we have outdated merchandise on the shelves???? I would love to see Tom Ryan, Larry Merlo and David Rikard along with all the other EVP's, SVP's and AVP's get into the stores and try working one shift in the front and one on the pharmacy. You guys wouldn't make it one minute. Yes, Ryan and Merlo are pharmacists. I would love to see you guys work a day wothout lunch or even going to the bathroom and still smile!! Get real, HELP US!!

    • I m with you Fed up and done with it. Help out the teams in your stores. Give us payrol help and we will give you engaged teams without any divide between FS and Rx.

    • I am a former Osco customer and my store was converted to a CVS. Overall the same people are there, and the atmospere is the same, but the level of service is less. It has to be because there are so few people there now. The people there are great but I don't see how they can handle such a huge store. Kudos to the management and employees at the store, but I think its time to take my business elsewhere.

    • I am happy to see people are understanding the core issues but CVS uppermanagement don't care what a handful of managers and pharmacist think. It's Wal-mart lite.

    • Run as fast as you can to Walmart. They pharmacy system is better than ours and they have more pharmacists per shift. AND they have over 400 generic drugs for $4. You may to wait in line their too, they are not big believers in FS payroll either, but they are spending it in the pharmacy. CVS is lucky they have a huge mail order business, because they are going to lose all of their retail stores soon if they do not invest in them to add more help. I guess it makes more sense to get sued and pay a multi million dollar settlement than give that money to your stores to increase manpower.

    • The copied email from another CVS employee below explains the assigned tasks most of the employees I have ever met working for CVS do. It will never change until the corporate leadership understands that customer service will pay bigger dividends in return business than the demands placed on all store level employees to cut costs to the bare minimum so corporate can enjoy huge bonuses, stock options or retirement packages. The District and Regional Managers will cover themselves by having task sign off sheets of who inspected each department and threating to fire them if something slips through. While the entire store operation was put on hold because of this alert. I nor my fellow employees would ever want to sell outdated items, however, there is not but 24 hours in a day we can work. And as some District Manager's will tell their store managers that they are salaried so "make it happen." By District and Corporate Supervisors not working in a store from time to time they lose all touch with reality with what goes on in a store and how stupid some of the assigned task are.

      I look forward to see my customers come in my store and am embarrassed when they tell me about an out of date item because they could have become ill through my staffs or my lack of attention to detail. That's unacceptable. However there is no way to cover down on most assigned task with 2 staff people in the front store most of the time. This will continue as long as we are understaffed and from District Mangers to Tom Ryan get out of the mindset that there are more $7.00 per hour people wanting to enter the labor force or get the employee discounts so why fix it? Make no mistake about it, if this was a top priority as you will here from Woonsocket, Rhode Island (CVS) it would be fixed. Not by firing good store managers and staff but by putting their stinking money where their mouth is. In properly staffing those store who need additional staff members. It's real easy to send out your public affairs spokes person and make a plea for the public to help us fix our problem, and we value their input but watch, this is nothing but "eye wash" because nothing will change at the store level. How many of those stupid commercials have you started seeing again. It's there to move you past your first bad thoughts hearing about this incident.

      I have found in my life experiences that in most cases the people at the bottom and top agree and want to do the right thing. It's the middle management brown nosers that would twist, change, or undermine their boss because they are working on their bonus and then blame everyone else when the wheels fall off the wagon.

      It used to take about three or four hours to set next weeks sale, now you have to take down this weeks sale signs, or if it's this first of the month take down the monthly extra care buck signs down too, clear this weeks end caps put up all the regular sale signs, the buy two get one free sale, the extra care buck back sale, the rectangular extra care signs, the compare and save signs, (which have created so much confusion by customer not reading the entire label), and set next weeks end caps, make signs for the end caps, big sale signs for the paper products, put up any sale items on the outdoor sign, completely vacuum the store, clean the bathrooms, clean the break rooms, completely face the entire store, check in any vendors dropping off Coke or Pepsi's, completing any film processing, waiting on customers, changing filters in the GrayTag machine because of customers coming in on Sunday from all the party's and cookouts the day before to process their film, count and close out the nightly deposit, all on Saturday before closing. On most days with two employees.

      On most nights after working at my store I remember turning out the light when I go to bed but I don't remember it getting dark in the room because I'm so tired. I give CVS a good return on their investment but I can't do it all. And you'll hear "you need to properly train your staff or get them more involved and hold them accountable. Some forget that this company is made up of some great dedicated members and the actions of a few or inactions shouldn't cast that same shadow on all of us. We just need additional staffing, not time and motion studies that determined we could canvass our store in 6 hours. How stupid! I would invite the brain surgeon who came up with that "nugget" to come to my store and show me how I could have accomplished that task.

      In an old saying I heard long ago, "never mind the horse, keep loading the wagon."

      Below is from another employee who framed it well. Thanks for your insight.

      "Here comes another training module, ivr call, compliance sign off, on how to spot outdated merchandise while…sweeping, dusting, cleaning, fronting & facing, backing up the rx dept., doing a p.o.g., unloading a warehouse truck & putting out the merchandise, scanning outs, pushing overstock, doing price changes, product withdrawls, new item cut in’s, amm labels, putting up ad signs, taking down ad signs, taking a break or lunch, running the photo lab, answering phone, checking in vendors, or even while helping out at other store during an inventory or remodel. Oh I almost forgot….waiting on customers.(yeah we still try to give good service, THEY are the reason WE have jobs)"
      Frustrated at the Bottom!

    • You're right upper management wont care, but they will when we keep losing customers and money. It may not happen today, but dont kid yourselves, we cannot continue like this. And for all of you Walgreens people reading this and thinking you are better than CVS. You are not, I worked there. It's the same crap and even worse.

    • I've never heard of this happening at Bartell's

    • If all of you are so unhappy and think this company is so bad then quit. People who are willing to work and put in the time are ready to take your place.

    • I have worked in the drug business for over a quarter of a century. There have always been challenges and there will continue to be more. It is a function of planning, time management and leadership. The people at these stores though we would love to pay them more, make the appropriate amount for the posistions they hold. Everyone needs to be accountable for themselves, it's called ownership. Though it is easy to bash and ridicule CEO's and VP's we are the ones making the calls that keep tens of thousands of people employed. Stand up take responsibility and accountability.

    • I work at CVS and I agree with everyone. There arent enough hours. After this came out on Thursday my managers were calling us asking us to come in on our day off to check all of the items in the store. Most of us didn't show up. We feel unappreciated and didn't feel motivated or obligated to come in and help. There's regularly no hours for us, but we're supposed to run in on our day off to help out? Negative. I hope CVS gets their ass handed to them...I really do.

    • Hey Go, this is the attitude of upper management. Just quit. You must have your head up your ass. Are you listening, these people love CVS, and stay because of it. We are just being treated like dogs!! Consider CVS the master illusionists, cut pharmacist hours to make it seem like we are fully staffed. Then threaten FS management to help the pharmacy and create engagement. All we are creating is enragement!! Keep buying abck stock to fatten your pockets! How bout payroll

    • to go, and winner... Most arent complaining. Most are simply stating the facts of the job. They aren't asking for a raise for themselves... or even higher pay for the employees... Its a minimum/slightly above Minimum wage job.

      What they are asking for is just more hours to hire more people to handle the tasks required.

      In a low volume drug store, with only 2 people working for most of the day, it is simply just a matter of time. Very few, if any, aspects of the job are difficult... but they are time consuming. No one is saying they dont want to do the work-- there just are not enough hours in the day to get all the tasks done properly. Some things should be outsourced to other companies... probably things you dont even realize the staff is doing... the staffs of the store clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, wash the windows, take out the trash.. etc.

    • I've read many of the comments. As a disclaimer, I have not worked for the company since 2001, however I worked at various stores from 1989 until then. It was always in our training to check for outdated merchandise and always stock new merchandise behind old. That said, there is always something missed. However, in looking at the detailed list, it appears the most in any store was 7 or 8 units. Do you know how many units of dated merchandise is in an average store? The training is there, management needs to reinforce it.

    • I work for cvs and we have plenty of staff. It is a twentyfour hour store and we have enough hours. The real blame is on the store manager and no one else. Our manager is so lazy and doesn.t care one little bit. He has retired people doing all his work and does not care about his employees. He has done some bad things in the past but middle management refuses to move this guy out. Everyone in the store loves their job but wants to leave because of him. Outdates? If it wasn't for two old people in our store who work their but off, we would of been one of those stores. Upper management needs to get off their ass and stop accepting subpar store managers. Make the changes for the better. Every store manager should be held accountable and the district manager needs to act.

    • Hey Stock Holder, what planet are you on?? You are one of 6300 stores that claims to have enough hours. Maybe thats where all our payroll went. You are right about holding people accountable. My DM and Pharmacy Supervisor are great and do an incredible job. But the fact of the matter is that corporate wants to only spend about 9% of their total sales on payroll. Thats ridiculous when you are doing over $80 billion in sales. Keep cuting payroll and you will not need to be a stockholder!!

    • I have worked for cvs for 11 years. I am a shift supervisor, photo lab supervisor, cashier and I run the cosmetics department. We are also expected to sit in on conference calls, go to meetings and not go over hours. We have always been told that if our sales go up that so will our hours. How do you get your sales up in a community that has no money? We run our store on 164 hours. We are open 80 hours a week. I have to work two 12 hour days a week just to make sure that we have management on duty. How do you take a lunch or go to the bank without leaving someone by themselves? I don't think it is fair to expect the Manager (who gets paid only for 45 hours) to work 60-70 hours a week. It is easy to say quit but there is no one hiring now. I enjoy the people I work with. We are like a family. Everyone that works in my store has been there for 10 or more years. They could hire 2 part-timers who make a lot less than we do and things will still not get done. Corporate just needs to get of their lazy butts and put in a couple of hours to see how hard it is to run these stores on no hours. Every time we turn around there is something new to add to our workload. All the while we have to make our customers happy or our triple s scores go down. Which in my district we get chewed if we are not at our goal. Happy employees = Happy customers!!

    • AMEN CVS Shift!! Have you gotten the is your team engaged, what is the culture like in your store speech yet? We could be the best company on the world, if we just realized where our shortcomings are. Its unfortunate

    • We have a great team at our store. I can only imagine what we could be if we had the hours. We just got our employee engagement survey. They should make those things about CVS as a company not as a store. I know that because I have to be on register for most of my day that I am not being used to the best of my ability. We just hired a new manager at the end of last month. For 3 months we ran without one. I was putting in tons of hours just to keep our heads above water. We were still expected to get everything done on time. So the VP's and CEO's should stand back and watch the monster you created. Because until you do something about the hours in the stores the monster will keep growing. Give us hours and watch your stores become the best!

    • This comment is mostly directed towards "Go" and "Winner": The point that most of the posted comments are making is that we are not dissatisfied with the job or what we do as a career. In fact, quite the opposite. I too have over two decades in retail and ten years in foodservice before that. Those of us who have chosen a customer service industry as a career strive to be the best at what we do, and take great pride in doing it. The frustrating and disappointing thing is when we are unable to take care of the customer as we would like. This company has spent millions of dollars building a business, sparing no expense on so many aspects of the business, yet fall short when it comes to its employees. A company's greatest tool, asset and resource is its employee's. Yet, this is the "most controllable expense", so they cut back to skeleton crews and expect the world. There are only so many hours in the day, and a few people can only accomplish so much. "When the sales go up, payroll will then be added." I feel that you have to spend money to make money. And when the company is not willing to spend the money on its greatest asset, its people, then it is destined for failure. The economy is in crisis. People are very selective about where and how they spend their money. Competition is high. So we promote superior customer service over the competition to draw in customers. When the customer comes into our store and is not delivered the customer service and overall shopping experience they were promised, they not only leave dissapointed, but feeling betrayed and deceived. Bad news travels faster than good news, so how long before we lose customers, and with it sales. The Extracare card is designed to garner repeat business, but that will only go so far when our competition offers similar cards, coupons and offers to entice them to shop elsewhere. No matter what effort we put into the job, if we can't be there when the customer needs us, whether to help find a product, view the correct price on the right stack of merchandise, or offer them a fast and courteous checkout, they will go elsewhere. We can't afford to lose customers. It hurts us on a personal and company level. We don't like feeling that we let the customer down, and the company doesn't like losing the business. All we ask is to help us do our job better, by giving us what we need most.....the employees to make everything happen. All we are accomplishing now is a short-term quick fix for good numbers on reports, and a dividend to the stockholders. That and watching our future business go down the street to our competition, who actually have enough people working today to accomplish the assigned tasks and help the customer. I checked, and yes, I felt like I received fine customer service when I went in there today. All of the planning and time management in the world won't do a bit of good if the management is the one on the cash register because we don't have enough payroll to have more than two people on a shift. If we would only invest in the payroll, tasks would be accomplished more accurately and timely, customers would be happier, and I can't help but believe that the sales would go up and we would feel better about the job we do.

    • will cvs change their ad from expect something extra to " expect something expired"

    • You are right Retail Manager,
      I do love my job. That is why at my store we have all been here 10 years or more. We pride ourselves on being the best. But that is hard to do when you can't help but get behind. I just hope that someone at corporate is reading these comments.

    • I don’t know about Rite Aid but I suspect that, despite their pharmacy licenses, CVS is ultimately being run by people who have no background in retail or pharmacy.

      Someone may want to clue whoever is in charge at CVS (and stockholders) to the need to increase their pharmacy lighting budget.

      A few years ago, we had a wave of thunderstorms during the summer. By September, the pharmacy section of my local CVS pharmacy had overspent their LIGHTBULB budget. It got to the point where CVS managers started telling the pharmacy staff to bring in their own lighting source from home. So, one of the pharmacy techs devoed out a flashlight from CVS front stock, and s/he and started using a flashlight to pull prescriptions from stock.

      If CVS does have issues with expired dispenses, maybe the pharmacy staff can’t read the expiration dates because they (and potentially others at CVS) are working in the dark.

    • Most of all, I love my job! I pride myself on the level of dedication that I share with my cvs team. I will not complain about the tasks that we are expected to do. The majority of these tasks are not difficult, nor do they require thriving intellect to accomplish. Our benefits and health package is far better than the majority of the companies in our area. We work in clean environment, but..... I work in a very small cvs store in an okay neighborhood. We run 14 hours a day, 7 days a week on 162 crew hours. To have the manpower to put up our weekly shipment, I am alone in the front of the store for one hour every morning. It is okay by CVS standards since the RPh is all the way in the back of the store alone as well. They cannot see us, nor us them. We are alone while we cover each other's lunches, bank trips, trash runs, and potty breaks. Talk about a loss prevention nightmare!!!!!!!Our loss prevention screams to monitor internal theft.......uhhhhhh....yeah, ill do that.....while doing the other 37 events other than the regular store activities in my workload planner....watching for shoplifters that i cannot stop since i have no one else to escort them to a safe zone while waiting on police!!! OH YEAH, DID I MENTION THAT WE NEED HOURS!!!! Wait, forget hours, just give me a camera system so that when we get shot dead in our tracks, the police have a clue!! all in all: Tom ryan, would you allow your child or wife to work in a store with no help, no hours, no coverage, and NO CAMERAS?????!!!!! We needed help four years ago, and we need loss prevention to update all stores with cameras if we are not going to get more hours. We are asked about how is our "dedication" all of the time...IF WE WERE NOT DEDICATED, WE WOULD NOT WANT MORE HELP, WE WOULD NOT CARE!!! What does it take???

    • I check the dates in every store I shop in, especially the supermarkets. I always find expired products. Take a few moments and check before you buy it.

    • What are you griping at!!! just do what we tell you to do!!! We dont care if managers have to put in 60+ hours a week, or if our customers have to look for a cashier so they can check out, this buisness is about script counts! Just pull the outdates and shut up!!! We can handle the rest from here. If you start getting more hours at store level then they may cut ours and then I might have to work a weekend off the clock ot miss my tee-time....oh the horror!!!! Just sell more stuff and beat your budget and you can have a couple more hours. Beside's we put the workload planner in for YOU and you did just get a big raise right!?!?(around $2 a day after ins. went up around $1 a day....Thanks for nothin') Well I have to take a flight to my favorite district now (could drive it in 3 hours but....) So I can check for outdates and make sure the endcaps are how I like em'.

    • It is refreshing to see the level of engagement in the topics outlined. I am exhausted in listening to what i have to try to accomplish in a day!!!

    • Our store was one of those 'caught' by investigators for outdated items. This was by no means a surprise, as a customer returned expired baby vitamins to me just two days prior to this scandal hitting the media. However, up to that point I was not aware of outdated merchandise being on the shelves. It is sad that this problem has come to a head, but it makes so much sense that it has. With payroll hours in the front store, and to an extent in the pharmacy, being cut to levels that allow less than 2 hours/hour of store being open, it is no wonder basic tasks like pulling outdates are neglected. Also when store teams are consistently being shouldered with more and more frivolous responsibilities such as conference calls, useless internal paperwork, worrying about generic efficiency percentages (something pharmacies really have no control over), and the brand new PCI (basically calling patients on the phone and asking them to fill prescripitions without giving them the chance of calling them in themselves just to make more money for the company, under the guise of making peoples 'lives' better) there is no opportunity to do the basic tasks that actually made CVS a successful business in the past. Such things as helping customers, putting up stock (which takes about 4-5 days to put up the weekly truck in our store), working outdates, cleaning the store, etc. All of these frivolous tasks do nothing but give middle and upper management something to do so they can be the first in line to kiss the ass of the manager(s) above them in ladder of command and tell them how great their store is compared to the others. Until CVS stops firing good managers, as we had until recently, allow more hours to be utilized for personnel stop trying to create new tasks for stores to take on, and get back to basics, the company will continue to decline in the quality of service it provides and eventually will lead to its unraveling and possible demise. Wake up CVS, listen to the people in your stores. For the most part they are not greedy employees looking to get ahead by putting someone else down, but just have pride in their store and their work, and want nothing more than to be given the resources to do their job effectively, and not constantly undercut by added responsibilities and selfish corrupt management. If CVS could do this, it could easily be a company envied by the pharmacy and retail world, and would be solid, strong, and successful for the LONG TERM, not just for what the stock price is going to be tomorrow.


      The anonymous person who posted this three days ago was right. Our region manager sent an e-mail orderng store managers to guarantee there was absolutely no more outdates on the shelf. CVS higher-ups are trying to shift the blame squarely onto the store managers.

    • Actually, MR. BIG WHIG CVS raises a couple of interesting points. They DON'T care if the manager has to work 60+ hours a week in order to "make it happen". Managers are only paid on a 45 hour workweek, yet we are measured, and tested, on our dedication by the amount of overtime we have to put in, and not be a "clockwatcher". With payroll reduction, we end up having employees who are begging for hours, hours that we are not able to give them, but yet we are killing ourselves with plenty of under-compensated overtime to try to accomplish all the tasks. Our employees will eventually get frustrated and quit, leaving us with nobody to call in if our one scheduled cashier calls in sick. And somewhere along the way, we will be reminded of how much time we are NOT spending with our families, friends and loved ones, until they graduate from high school or you take off work to attend your parents funeral. Then you are left wondering what the phrase "quality of life" means and why upper management doesn't want to hear it mentioned. We could discuss it with our families if we weren't so exhausted from our 60-70 hr week. Another point in response to the numerous posted comments: there is no computer program to tell us when product is outdated. This is something that has to be checked by people. People are only human, and humans make mistakes. That, and with the fact that not every category in the store is checked every month (how could it be?), no matter how thorough we are, something is going to slip by at some time. This goes for all businesses that sell any product that could expire, not just drugstores. Everyone is quick to put the blame on the store manager. But really folks, let's face it......if the manager is the one doing all of the tasks involved in the store including running the cash register half of the time, how is that person being a manager? Who are we managing? It seems to me that at the corporate level there are "too many chiefs and not enough indians", but at the store level we have "too many indians and not enough chiefs". To be an effective manager, you must have people to manage, partaking in a process that involves effectively knowing what needs to be accomplished, creating a timeframed and responsibility driven plan to accomplish the tasks, and follow-up including training so that in the future tasks are completed in a more timely and accurate manner. As it is now, all we do is run around like chickens with our heads cut off just trying to keep up and hope we don't miss something, or get "on a list".

    • What ever happened to the consumer checking the dates before he or she purchases the item? I agree that stores need to be responsible and diligent on not leaving outdated items on the shelf, but people aren't robots. Many products have codes on them that no one can decipher. I feel the state should stop trying to hold everybody's hand and let the consumer take some responsibility. And if a customer should find something out of code, tell the manager and he or she will take care of it immediately. It's really very simple. This is nothing but a way for Cuomo to make a name for himself in an election year. Much bigger issues exist in New York State and if this is his focus, then I don't want him for governor. He's lost my vote.

    • What happened to looking for people with expired VISAS? How about safety of the country. Hopefully the AG is putting equal energy into finding down terrorists.


    • This is what it all comes down to. Businesses attempt to make money, efficiently. They need a high return on their invested capital. Payroll cost and cost associated with employees are very high. Health care, 401K matches, sick days, disability, etc., these are some of the biggest cost of business. Is this the fault of CVS? All companies that suceed control payroll and associated cost. All sucessful companies grow. All growing companies hire new people. All working Americans spend money. All the money they spend puts money into everyone's pockets. Being "self interested" as opposed to selfish(negative conitation innapropriatly applied) is good for everyone. CVS is not bad for limiting hours in its stores. It is responsible, it is creating more opportunites for more people by doing so. The fault here lies in the fact that we live in a hyper sensitive society that wants to sue, when a store misses outdates, when a pharmacist makes a mistake, when they spill hot coffee on themselves. People get a grip! No store that has over 1 million dollars worth of products will be free of outdates, NONE, ZERO, NUNCA, NADA, ZILCH! Have you checked your house for outdates. If you have some smart bueracrat in NY may be ready to sue you, because there are outdates there. Maybe we should call child protective services? Let's drop the investigative local news reports drama please. By the way Ray Cortipasi says "Is the Internet Killing Your Kids?", lets sue Micheal Dell. This is all a big joke. To make the easily manipulated masses forget about anything that actually matters. Do you want moral outrage? Sue insurance fraud grifters that drive all of our premiums up, sue politicians that scream family values and cheat on their wives, sue the people crying about the sky falling and breating our precious are but outdates? Outdates? I wonder if Bill O'Riely is behind this? I hear he wants to sue A Current Affair:)

    • I am a manager for CVS, I checked my store for outdates. I had outdates, I expected to find outdates. That's why we check,DUH! It happens. Would I like more payroll? Once again, Duh. Yes, but these are some of the challenges we face. There are stores that make it work. Yes I work over 50 hours a week. So does my brother a radiologist, so does my uncle an engineer, so does my boss, so do most proffesional people who give a damn about their career. This is life folks. To see so many Rph's complain it makes me snicker. They work 40 hours a week, read magazines, eat at their workstations, call in sick, get paid for any and all overtime, refuse to help customers outside of their box, complain about anything extra they have to do, and make over 6 figures and have no worries after they leave their little box. I appreciate them but look, we all have to work for a living, you either deal with it, hit the lottery, marry well, or keep it to yourself.

    • I don't like cops!

    • My Pharmacists come out on the floor and work on truck, P-O-G's, outdates, sale signs and anything else we need. I may have a rare store but we couldn't do it without them. So even if we all work together with very little hours it still doesn't work. We are not saying that you shouldn't put in some extra time but when is enough, enough? This company doesn't appreciate their employees. We get a whopping 30% off a couple times a year. We aren't celebrated when we do something good. Only ripped when we don't make budget or go over hours.

    • My boss was told at the district meeting that if any store is caught with an outdate by the attorney general's office from now on, the manager wil be fired outright by order of the area VP. I suggest all the managers update their resumes unless they are able to handle each and every item personally each week when they put up truck. Outdates happen. There is no malicious conspiracy by CVS to profit from selling outdated goods. With very few man hours, the managers are doing their best to find all the outdates, yet they will be the ones fired. One was already fired in Syracuse. Expect more of the same.

    • A corporation this large would not would not put their entire company in jeopardy by selling out dated items to consumers, out dated eggs?! CVS is not intentionally cheating consumers by selling them out dated items. Consumers should always check if the item is outdated or not before making the a purchase anyways. Other pharmacies such as Walgreen's are intentionally cheating by improperly switching patients' prescription drugs to more expensive ones in order to increase its reimbursement from Medicaid, the U.S. Justice Department announced today. These are our tax dollars that they have been cheating. We consumer had no control over this but we do have control over checking for outdated items. We can go to any store and find out dated items. Why bash just is everywhere.

    • I was so happy to find this blog because I felt alone in my thoughts of what was at the cause of this issue. Lack of hours. I've worked for CVS for 11 years. We are now running are store at 55 hours a week less than what we once had. That's alot of outdates that could have been checked. Some of us take alot of pride in the job and never want to see anyone at risk for things that we haven't been able to do. It has only been a matter of time before something severly went wrong. Thank goodness someone wasn't badly hurt. I was on a conference call this week when they talked about the seriousness of the situation and in the next breath talked about not going over in hours. Did anyone know that shampoo, bar soap and diapers expired before this week. It's all out of control. I just hope something good comes out of it and I'm not going blind checking dates for nothing. Why can't they just make the dates clear and easy to read.

    • I think its funny how are so called loving company if full of bull. we feed customers all this bull in are adds but treat are staff like dirt. are CEO made 1.7 million more than last year are stores are cutting hours and we never have enough staff to do the full job. I mean really what do you expect people want so much for so little. we do what we can with what we have. a customer wants to pay so little and expect that they will get the best... what you pay is what you get. as for are company as I hear it no one go more than a 3% raise this year so you got over worked and underpaid employees checking for out dates. of course they are going to do the bare amount. they never get the whole job done. I hope the AG's all get in this and every tv channel. Lets not forget that when we have mice and bugs on overstock in the back it still ends up on the shelves because no manager wants it to come out of there shrink is any one checking for that???? think no. have fun and enjoy. Oh and yes its another great day at CVS

    • It seems we all agree what is going on at CVS. The question is what can we all do to fix it. Is there really anything? I don't see anyone of any importance commenting on this. Over 6000 stores in this company you would think we could have an impact somehow. And why is no one at Rite Aid speaking up?

    • It just shows that the employees of cvs really do want to make a difference. We do care what happens. I have been in Rite Aid in my town and they are not as friendly as those in our cvs. They don't look as happy. The people who wait on me at cvs are always polite and friendly. It is alarming to hear all the comments about the things that are going on behind closed doors. I can't imagine how the CEO's and VP's keep their employees. I would quit. When I asked why the employees stay the cashier told me because they love the customers and the people they have helped. That is why I shop at my local cvs. Keep up the good work. Maybe someone important is reading these comments.

    • To "Concerned customer"
      Thanks for your support! We appreciate it. I hope you are right. I hope someone is reading and actually listening. Someone that can help us do our jobs the way we really want to do them. We would all be beter off, including CVS.

    • Its amazing how I read some of these comments and some saying its the mangers fault and we all have challenges and have to suck it up and do it. I agree we all have challenges and sometimes it does get really tuff and we do have to deal with it, BUT when we have over 6,000 stores in the same boat with the same problems all needing more hours to do what is asked of us, maybe it isnt the store manager. CVS wanted bigger earnings, and they got it, but look at what cost. I dont think we have over 6,000 bad and lazy managers, but I do know we have over 6,000 exhasted and tired managers trying to there very best with what little we go to do it with.

    • Store Manager-
      I agree. I give 100+% every day and go home tired and defeated, as probably do too. It certainly isn't for lack of long. How long before we all give up? Many already have. I've seen many good managers leave.

    • I work for cvs, and our store dont check anything at all. We have customers bringing back outdated things all the time and the store manager don't take them back. I feel this is wrong and that it could cause harm to the customer. When I took back something that was outdated I got wrote up! I will testify that they don't care about the customer just the money

    • Just worked our truck overnight this weekend. Outdates came in on truck. A lot of stuff came in with worse dates than what was on the already on the shelf. They are not rotating in the warehouse, yet we are getting blamed.

    • AMEN!!!

    • who cares about outdated items, it happens. all these employees are complaining about no hours and all that crap, to bad. all it takes is 1 day a month at most to check, so instead of complaining about no hours and tom ryan just do it. no ones forcing u to stay at cvs so leave if your not happy. its funny that all it takes is some outdated cookies or milk to get people complaining, like thats our biggest problem in life.take a minute and think about it

    • ..... there isn't any real reason for having out dates, especially in baby formula. Maybe some employees need to realize one task is more important then the others. Yes there are a ton of things I could be doing like photo but maybe checking a sections out dates is more important then a one hour 6.99 roll of film. Yes it is common sense for a consumer to check the dates as well, but that shouldn't be a requirement. Let's face it, almost every thing expires. You could turn a 1 hour grocery trip into a 4 hour job if you checked all your dates. As a consumer I expect all products to be in date, as an employee of RA I make sure my products are in date. I've spent many 10 hours shifts doing out dates alone. Payroll is a reason things don't get done but then there is another, like the lazy employee who reads a magazine the whole shift.

      Some people don't realize but Eckerd hasn't been Eckerd in years. It was sold to JCPenny's then Brooks Pharmacy and now Rite Aid. JCP just wanted the right off, Brooks well they really got a sweet deal. Eckerd/Brooks/Rite Aid in all three acquisitions have had one constant problem. The upper management (corporate levels) isn't changing. So the people who drove Eckerd into the red, continue to sit at the steering wheel. I envision Rite Aid will be selling off some stores in non core markets (total BS).

    • where is all are money going

    • Hey Chris-
      Get real! I couldn't check all the outdates in my pantry and medicine chest in one day. You have no idea. And if you think you can, you wouldn't be doing a good job. Most of us see the reality of this issue. It sounds like the CVS mind set all over again. Like giving us 3 hours to complete a cough and cold plano. And that should include checking outdates too. There are very unrealistic expectations.

    • When CVS starts to treat their employees like the employees are expected to treat the customers - maybe this company would be a good company to work for. Where I am, good luck trying to find an Americcan pharmacist as they have held hostage the people here on VISAs. A few Regional Managers (RD in the SE) are completely insane and with fish rotting from the head, well expired foods aren't going to be the worst of CVSs problems.

    • The money for RA is being spent for all these conversions and grand openings they're doing. A full store paint, powder & replanogram (3rd party company). I went through 2 weeks of the PPR and a week later went into the Grand Opening Month. The IT conversion alone has to be a small country. All register systems went from the archaic to the elite in every store bought by Rite Aid. They've been spending more money then what they make & what is the most commonly cut expense.. payroll. To top it off every planogram got redone barely two months ago, in the last week I've done 17 again and more show up daily. One Pharmacist's annual pay could pay the entire FE payroll (managers included) for a year and there would be money left.

    • Comments by imbittered former employees are not allowed.

    • I agree with all the comment made. This not only happen in CVS; the same thing happens in Rite Aid. A store manager,assistant manager of superviser has to run his or her store under staff. Because the store does not have enough hours; usually open the store with one person and only have 2 to 3 employee for the entire day. Usually each store has 9-15 aisle per store. The store needs many tasks to be complete price changes, stock the store, check the recalls, face the entire store, map and, take care of the customers (which are upset because they can't find help on the sale floor), clean the bathroom and keep organize the stock room. Only one cashier and the lines never end; because, their is not enough help at the register. Also, "the outdate" how it could be pull of the shelves if there is no payroll and 3 people in a store can't do everything that is require. It is really sad that corporate don't care how their store are presented and don't offered the help that the stores really need. The district manager only says make happens like 3 people could do miracles.

    • So I just read that they went back to stores and found that 50% of cvs stores are still selling out of date! where is it all coming from if stores pulled it 2 weeks ago? I guess some d.m.'s did not "make it happen". Managers are expected to manage thier stores but in all actuality are just glorified stockboy's/stockgirl's. I have a pile of paperwork 6 inches high in my office that I can't even get to. Oh well gota go empty the trash out front and check the bathrooms for toilet paper.

    • They should hire the AG's people to come to the stores and pull out dates. They seem to be able to find them all. How many people do they send into a store at a time to find 1 or 2 more things? It cant't be just one person.

    • Sounds to me like the drug stores need to update their technology a bit. They use barcodes to scan for price and deplete from stock on hand, which in turn triggers ordering when minimum levels of stock are released. Why not switch from barcode to scatter code where more info would be stored/read, including expiration date? The store would scan in the items with XX expiration date into stock, then when the item is sold, it is depleted from stock. When XX date arrives on the calendar, the inventory system would then print out a report showing which items, and how many need to be pulled off the shelf. The store employee would then go to only those items listed to pull stock. No more pawing through items that haven't reached their expiration date.

      Another technology that could help in this area, would be Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Each item could have an RFID affixed that would show (through a scanner) its expiration date. Employees could bulk scan a shelf area and if their were outdated items present, the scanner would notify them as such. The cost of this system would probably be higher than of implementing expiration dates in the scatter codes.

    • How do they expect the managers at Rite Aid to keep up with all the resposibilities they have if they keep getting called to the register for manager approval for every little transaction? And they stress that if there are 3 people in line, cashiers are supposed to call to open another register. Who are you supposed to call if there is no one there but cashier and manager?

    • Again it's great to see some people with ideas. CVS has been sending people from other states to assist in checking again. Now they are pulling another month or two that weren't pulled prior. These people are making comments how everone in the store should be fired. That really helps. Go back to where you came from if you want to talk that way.

    • Outdates sucked. The store i worked in however spent over a week touching every item in the store with the exception of picture frames and blank CD's....

      Our reward? A couple Lazy stores in New York decide this isnt that big a deal.... so i get to spend the next 2 weeks rechecking every store in my entire region. No extra day off because of the holiday. No Concievable way to work less than 60 hours.

      Thanks Stores that couldnt be bothered./

    • I work for one of these companies and yes, I agree that this is a big issue. However, I would like to know why other drug stores are not being checked like ours. If you go into any store there will be SOMETHING that is out of date. Also, if these investigators are so concerned with the welfare of people then why did they NOT tell us of the outdates that they found in their initial investigation? I read in a newspaper article the other day that they had an undercover investigation where they bought outdated products from stores back in March. We heard NOTHING about this until this entire story broke. And you care about the welfare of people?! If that was the case then you would have IMMEDIATELY notified the management of the store where these items were purchased so that they could pull the items off the shelf. This was not done! Instead they waited months! Does this sound like concern for public safety? I think that it is unfair that our stores are being targeted while others are not even being checked. Why were we not informed of the outdates when they were found and why are our competitors not being checked? Something else is going on here and everyone in this industry knows it but no one has the balls to say it!


    • I know you are upset, but your caps lock key will be confiscated(along with your 1/! key) unless you refrain from abusing them.
      Thank you.

    • Most of the drug outdates really don't matter, but this is what I expect from the oversized and understaffed chain drugstores. If there is an Independent Pharmacy in your community-support it! These chains deserve to be smacked, but not only because of this headline-grabbing nonsense. Clearly Mr. Cuomo would rather go after low-hanging fruit than take on serious crime in his community.

    • i can use caps whenever i want. who are u to confiscate my caps lock key and my ! key. im just stating my opinion. its a free country deal with it buddy. and i can say whatever i want too.

    • First of all we are not buddies. Secondly you are allowed to state your opinion, just please don't look uneducated when you do so. It makes your opinion look insignificant. We are just looking out for you kind sir.

    • This issue is just the tip of the iceburg. As I have been wit hCVS for a while now I have experienced many things. Talk about middle management and their bonus. I was instructed that i could not give a 10 year employee a 4.5% raise because they were at the cap. I asked superiors to show me the cap so i know for the next time. "Well it is not written any where" I was forced to a 2% raise to give because the employee MADE TO MUCH MONEY! Way to engage

    • Come on this is how business works. There is a cashier in my district that makes 17.00/ hour because nobody enforced the cap. That is ludacris! Most of the commentors should get a job at a not for profit, because they obviously don't like making money.

    • Thanks for letting me know what I can expect in my raise this year. There is no cap on what they can increase how much we pay for our health care benefits. My raise doesn't even touch that.

    • If that person makes $17 an hour it is because he/she has been with the company a long time probably. Doesn't longevity or company loyalty account for anything? I suppose that person should consider themself lucky they haven't been nudged out and replaced with a minimum wage part-timer who spends half their shift text messaging their friends

    • You are right. There are many days I feel like if I didn't show up the doors wouldn't open. The kids have no concerns for what happens when the don't feel like working. There is a never a way to get back hours lost. The clock just keeps on ticking towards the next missed deadline. I wish I made $17.00 to be a cashier. I know that their commitment is important but I also know that in spite of the fact that I'm always there and am actually doing work 100% of the time I'm there that the raise I got last year was a lower % than a lot of other people received. I guess that was because I the 2nd highest hourly person in the store. The shift A's in the stores all know what it is like to run a store just like an assistant but with NO BONUS. The price you pay for not having an assistant in your store. Just as much is expected of you.

    • don't forget about the kmarts, targets and walmarts of the world. Too many discount stores cannibalizing each other and its employees.

    • I work for one of the Rite Aid Distribution Centers. Last week they (management) started checking dates. This is something that should have been done by the Inventory Control Dept. I know that there are expired product in these stores. I work for these people and I won't even shop there. They need this to open there eyes. I think they have been getting away with this type of thing for years. Some needs to be held accountable, yes customers should check the products but they shouldn't be on the shelves in the first place.

    • Save CVS managers!!! they are the life line of the stores!! CVS has front store policies in place which require code pulls every week that pull product which has one month in advance of present date. have special agents check out the CVS warehouses. the store managers have enough on their plate as it is. Yo special agent man let me see if you can last one week in a cvs store environment,balancing payroll, schedules, price changes hundreds of daily price changes, customer service issues emails,banking,DM visits, vendor deliveries,pharmacy ego's photo lab, inventory,audits,theft,certifications training just to mention a few no overtime for the managers thats right a 75-80 hour week in a 40 hour salary. you think you have it tough?

    • Even hourly people are under the same pressure if they care at all. But don't you get it? No one is listening to how hard we work on how much we care.

    • Can you believe Rite Aid stores are open all day on July un-American....or should I say how money hungry is Mary Sammons?

    • CVS is open all day July 4th as well. Christmas too.

    • Get the Distric Managers and the other Head Honcho's that do nothing and let them pull the products from the shelves in their assigned stores!

    • We had 5 people in our store last week 2 days. Went over our budget 50+ hours. Now they have an outside agent doing audits. Thousands and thousands of merchandise distroyed, much of which still had several months left. When I think of this all for just one store, the cost has to be out of this world. Yes CVS has policies in place but again does not invest in the hours to implement them. This is where it cost them this time. Where will it be the next time? Now the focus is outdates. Something else will have to be pushed to the rear.

    • I am a store manager for CVS, and I am ashamed of this report. It does not inspire confidence in the consumer to continue to shop our stores. Even if we don't have enough hours, even if there is only 2 people on each shift, that is no excuse for having outdates on your shelf. Sure it may take quite awhile to check for these outdates, but that is your job to do. If you don't like it, them go somewhere else. Have some pride in your job!!

    • I totally resent your comment. You have no idea how much I and others have given to this company if you feel that way! This is not an excuse. Out dates and confidence are extremely important. I too take pride in my job and in my store. I'm just saying that had CVS invested the hours in their stores in the begining all this money would not have been wasted to recover the damage done. Again, it is just a shift in priority again. Will only having 2 people in a store be an excuse when some stores get robbed and someone gets hurt or worse? Maybe then we'll finally stop calling it an excuse and call it the reason.

    • You are right about the hours, but that does not give us the right to have outdates on the shelf! It's very simple to just check your outdates when you are putting up truck. That way when the 20th of every month comes around, it won't take that long. By no means did I intend to offend anyone by my comment, I just feel that outdates are a very important part of our job to get done. If that means that I have to stay a little longer to get it done, well then that's what I'll do. It's alot easier to do the outdates that to explain to a customer why you have an outdated product on your shelf.

    • There is nothing wrong with this practice. If someone wants to buy an item like this they should be able to do so. Lawsuits over this kind of thing just drive up costs for everyone. The AG needs to be sanctioned for driving our costs up.

    • CVS and Rite Aid and all other stores should be ashamed of themselves for being open all day on a holiday.....July 4th was INDEPENDENCE DAY....unfortunately we are all slaves to the almighty dollar. We have to go back to putting family first and spending time with family is important..not shopping

    • CVS treats its store employees like dirt.The salaried people "manager and Assistant manager" are paid paid a measly salary for working around 60 hours weekly.Bonus is negligible,if any.They need help.The corporate is running an organized slavery show.Most managers at CVS have only high school diplomas.CVS knows that and they exploit it to their full advantage.By giving the around 45K (in texas) they bait them with enough money that they will think hard before quitting.But then they saddle them with infite back braking work,long hours,no holidays and NO HELP.

    • Get a job as CVS store manager if,
      1.You hate your family
      2.Dont mind getting paid 45 hours salary for 60+ hours of work,weekly.

    • I posted earlier about the hours things... but now its just people complaining. Any manager routinely working 60 hours a week is not working smarter. Sure some weeks 55 hours happens, and other weeks its 45 (RA managers are 50 hour work week).... I am a manager of a low volume store (the types with the real staffing issues) and still rarely put in over 53 hours. My store is also the best in the district in Customer Service Scores and maintaining all the weekly tasks...

      If some of you managers would come out of your office and actually help with doing the work on the floor, I bet your hours worked would go down too.



    • The problem with businesses (not only RA and CVS)today is that they expect workers to multi-task but they don't multi-pay and that is why quality is down. A pat on the back doesn't pay the bills

    • Why would the Attorney General
      Office only investigate CVS_ And Rite Aide- Maybe someone should investigate this- There are many other Drug Stores so target all in your investigation and don't just try to put down two chains to promote your polital contributing back pocket investors to boost your own pockets- It is a good idea that customers can now read the outdates , they should check them and if they should find one bring it to a store attendant's attention so it can be removed. I do not work in Retail nor do I critisize but I usually get alot of care and concern from CVS employees and I've bought out dated dairy product at numerous locations, I took it back and got new ones- no fuss - Once I got bad meat a grocery store and took it back, late at night and saved the store because the refrigeration unit was not working properly and they were able to have it fixed the next day- I came in a few nights later and was told Thank You and that made me feel important- one they recognized me as customer, 2 they took the time to thank me for letting them know right away, 3 they explained the problem and that it was repaired that next day. So why destroy a reputation when it could have been just as easily remedied by notifying the company rather than making it all about two brands of stores!!!!

    • Expired out of dates can be mostly taken care of by rotating your stock. New stock to the back old stock to the front. Employee should be trained to follow that. Also outside venders should also be checking their dates also. Some out of dates can be lessen also by reducing you merchandise. If a product doesn't sell then don't re-order so many. I work as a CPhT at a CVS. Yes we are very very busy. But good training pays off big time. When I take a drug off the shelf I check the date quickly even if the bottle is opened. Only takes a quick glance not hours. Yes I have found out of dates. But if everyone employed followed those 2 simply rules rotate and quick glances some problems could be avoided. I work truck day and putting up alot of bottles does take time. But if you put new ones to the back and if out of dates do get put on the shelves then a quick glance before filling can catch those ones. Also drugs don't go bad like mold on food. When a drug expires it just loses it's potence or in other words it's strenght. But that happens slowly not right at the very minute it expires. And that's why you should only get a month at a time for prescription drug's and take all the medicine unless the doctor tell's you to stop. If you have medicine in your cabinet that is prescrition look at the fill date if it is over a month throw it out if you don't intend to take it anymore. With can goods unless the can is dented then your alright. Can food was found in German bunkers 10 years after the war and when opened was found to be just fine. But use consumer common sence "when in doubt, throw out". The only gripe I have about CVS is the breaks that we get or don't get. If we work 6 hours or over we MUST take a half hour. But since we don't start breaks until 12 noon and 3 of you started at 8am and we have to take turns then the last going end's up eating lunch at around 2pm. I end up skipping eating because I don't want to eat so close to supper at 6pm. Also our store manager won't let us have our 2 other breaks that we should be paid for. You know those 2/15 minutes one. He said it's 2/10 minutes and that if we should gripe about taken them then every time we have to go to the bathroom we have to do it on those 2/10 minute breaks. I wonder if upper managment and CEO's follow those rules. If any of them are reading this I work at store 7745 in Ringgold, Georgia.

    • I love the notion that rotating stock is the solution to all the outdated problems.

      For rotating of stock it has to be done at ALL levels- not just store level, or it doesnt work at all.

      Just for kicks, last week i kept track of everything i put up with an expiration date.

      73% of the items with dates... the "new ones" that came in on the truck had a date that is sooner that what was already on the shelf.

    • I work for Rite aid and just in our store alone, after taking everything past expired, and things expiring in the next 3 months off the shelf we had over 10 totes. Annoying thing is, on stock day, some things come IN expired.

    • I know it is wrong to sell expired merchandise, but the public has to remember the item doesn't go bad on the exact expiration date. They should be as vigilant in their own homes as they want us to be.


    • I have worked for cvs for many years and one of the problems I see is the upper management always notifies local management when they are coming and then everyone has to clean and overstaff when they come so no one can see the real problem of understaffing. They also make lie about how it really is on a day to day basis when you work long hours with no breaks and you work alot of hours for no pay because you don't want to leave your coworkers when their so busy in the pharmacy with no help. They should be investigated for labor law practices.

    • I agree with all the payroll issues, we are struggling severely. If you have such a tight schedule, there is no flexibility to cover vacations, or people out sick. But wouldn't it make sense for the manufacturers to shoulder some of the responsibility for their product? Couldn't they be required to clearly and boldly print the expiration dates on the items, rather than have them hidden in tiny print, or just engraved, where you have to turn the package just so to read it? Big, bold, black type would make them much easier to identify, even just in passing/facing, etc...And as for date CODES, we asked for list of how to read these, and were told there was no such list in the works. How can we be held responsible for outdates on items with codes we cannot identify? At a district meeting, we were told, yes, inspectors would know how to read them, but we would not. Once again, thanks for the assistance. And if I didn't have to spend half of my time entering the same sku into the RF to "count" it three more times, even though I do not have this many locations, as my store is small. Or spend the other half on the phone with Retail Imaging trying to get our state of the art photo equipment up and running properly...

    • Can someone explain to me how stores like Rite Aid expect to make money when they have sales with the Single Check rebates where customers get the item for free after rebate? I assume they think the customers buy other items as well but this is NYC. Customers only come in for the freebees and buy more than 1(probably to sell for full price in their $.99 stores)....each on a single receipt causing a long line at register and aggravating the people behind them. And when you ask the cashier if there is another register they say no one is there.

    • To all the CVS employees complaining about thier jobs and hours. Just do your job and stop complaining. Fix the problem. if you do it on a monthly basis you wont have a bigger problem later on. Lead by example.Take pride in your store. Do you keep outdated merhandise in your house? It takes more time to complain and blame it on hours,the economy and each other. No matter where you work,as long as that establisment sells consumeables there will be outdates. Have you forgotten our vission,mission and values. or SSS. wht it really means. take a step back,look at it through a customers eyes. so stop complaining and do your job. Its amazing we have CVS employees. including members of managemnt bashing the company that has given them a career.In todays economy you should be happy you have a job.

    • of something painful, just for being a douche.

    • I work for riteaid and i tell you, two people a shift is a joke(and ones a cashier) who they expect to do a bunch of stuff in between customers. Then, if its so busy the task couldn't get done, the cashier gets the blame. Oh, i was moving too slow. Im sorry, i was wasting my time feeling the beer over and over and over then by time im done with that i have another whole line of customers, im forever moving in an arrobic pace, if i moved any faster, i would be running.

    • About the rebate thing, i think the manufacture reimburses Riteaid. Its usually a way to promote a new item.

    • Allen, I also work for Rite Aid. I know the manufacturers use the rebates to promote sales of their items and hopefully bring business into the store. But, like Confused said, a lot of the times that is all they buy. From what I see, people make a business out of it. Buy the product that is free after rebate and also use a coupon. So in essence they are being paid to buy the product. Then a few weeks later they return the product for a refund. Therefore it is costing Rite Aid money to process the sale, rebate and return. And try explaining the rebate concept to people who don't speak English and can only read FREE or whatever the price is after rebate and want it for that price. Or when they find out it isn't at the rebate price at the register and they get mad and throw the item at the cashier.They don't want the item and the sale has to be voided, which means you have to call the manager. People waiting in line then become disgusted and leave the store. Do you wonder why Rite Aid's stock is way down?

    • I just bought a bottle of Sino Fresh from Rite-Aid. I didn't see an expiration date on the box after I got the box home so I called Sino Fresh and gave them the "lot #" and was told the product expired--TWO YEARS AGO!! Does anyone know who I can report Rite-Aid to I had already used it before I found out the expiration date!

    • I was trying to make this point in an earlier post. We can check for outdates on a daily basis, but if we are not told by the manufacturer how to read the "code", how do we know it's outdated? Why isn't there something in place to force manufacturers to list an actual expiration date on their product? How can we be held responsible for having outdated merchandise on the shelves, when we are not told how to read the lot # and know that it's outdated? I have been told the FDA is working on making all manufacturers list an actual expiration on their products, but it is like any other red tape, going to take time to put it in effect.

    • Why are manufacturers allowed to put expiration dates in codes and in strange places. We were doing outdates and to find an expiration date we had to hold package on an angle in a certain light to see it. It is so easy to miss and takes longer.

    • who do I call if I buy expired products? Russian stores do that all the time. My wife is pregnant and everything could happen.

    • You CVS employees forget about that wonderful saying you hear on the PA every 5 mins. ("Manager to the front, Manager to the front, for customer assistance") I mean that just never gets old huh? Key scans for just about everything other than scanning an item....oh ya the power we hold with our key tags like a light saber...oh that got old after the first day that got activated for me... Maybe in 10 yrs or so they will finally understand what needs to be done to fix all of this. Intill then...hang on to the 14 high totes that just keep on coming and don't fly out the door with the ad's that just dont' stay on that stand @ the front door. ; seriously, the sad part is you do need to start looking for a new job. Nobody is going to offer it to unless you take the time on your days off and look. Dont' wait to sink with the ship or just stay miserable. It's not going to change anytime soon. There is better jobs out there that pay even more.. you have to be aggressive and look. I don't plan on staying with CVS much longer.

    • Yes I know some grammar errors with my post. This isn't school right? Anyways to add to what I was saying. CVS isn't a bad company. It's not hard to figure out, the FS needs more hrs yes. But that's easy to say. It really does depend on your Store manager and yes THE HOURS YOUR's a combination of depends on how your manager manages his or her building. You have to have a game plan when you try to accomplish anything...there are countless tasks to be done @ CVS I know all about it..from setting an ad to making sure there are store use labels on all the items in the office and break room etc...but seriously I was saying earlier. It's a major problem they have like some other retail companies and It's not goint to change now, especially with the economy the way it is. It's kind of sad...hearing "increase your sales and watch your hrs go up" How can your sales go up, when you cut hrs? That means less gets done and you want more blood out of a stone? No it's called invest money and see if money makes money....GOT IT STOCK HOLDERS??????????????????????????????????????????? RING A BELL NOW? CAT GOT YOUR TONUGE? GIVE ME A BREAK! OH THAT'S RIGHT 1/2 IS TOO MUCH....i'll take my 5 mins drink my meal thru a least i see it's not just me going thru this nonsense. Goodluck CVS employees!

    • People need to stop complaining that there is not enough hours allowed at store level to check for outdates. Even if hourly employees feel checking outdates is beyond their scope, management shouldn't. Rite Aid managers and assistant managers are salary and are required to work a minimum of 50 hours a week. I have seen very few of them actually do it. Even if they did, then they need to stay that extra 6 or 10 hours to check outdates if no one else can get it done. That's why you're salary people! If you don't like it, you're in the wrong job! I worked for Rite Aid and just after this big "scare" about outdates happened I was helping out at another store. There had been a huge emphasis on checking the whole store for outdates from corporate. Apparently, this store had complied. You would not believe the outdates that I found and they had already gone through the store! This is typical for Rite Aid. Mismanagement is the only thing I can say. After all, Rite Aid was one of the few companies that was so unethical that the government took action and signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. What else is there to say about a company that needs the government to step in and tell them to be ethical?

    • I currently work for Rite Aid, I'm appauled at the lack of some policies. True, there are only 2 employees working on most shifts, plus a management member, or supervisor, and there's not a lot of time to check for outdates let alone, straighten out the store. I don't agree with corp tying the hands of cashiers, or with the lack of employees scheduled to ensure out dates are being checked. One of the major faults I've found, is that when shipment arrives, NO ONE rotates stock!! Including the manager!! I found outdates as far back as 07.

      Another major pet peeve, is that Rite Aid does not recycle!! Everything is thrown into the trash. Unexcusable, unacceptable. You should be ashamed of yourselves Rite Aid.

    • It's really sad to read all the negative comments. I'm right there with all of you in your frustrations, and with the customers also. I hate the rebates, or freebates as we call them in the NW. There's the regulars who will be lined up at the door tomorrow morning, and you know dang well they do not use all these products. Yes, they purchase them to sell at their stores for a higher price. And then get upset with us because a rebate wasn't honored.. why, because they didn't bother to READ the sign. So now our time is wasted by having to do returns. It's all a scam.

      And to AMAZED who posted earlier this year, who says "just be happy you have a job"... that is the Wrong attitude to have. Why enable the corporate world to screw every employee any way they can? I was laid off for over a year, I haven't been able to find a company who wants to pay me what I was making. So I've taken a job for $4 an hour less, various shifts, split days off, no benefits.. and I'm supposed to be happy about it??? No, I've "Settled". I've taken what I can just to attempt to put food on the table for my kids, while the CEO's make the big money, and don't have to work holidays so THEY can be home with their families.

      Retail isn't about Family, none of these companies care about family time for their employees.. it's all about making a dime.
      It's the world we chose to get into.

    • I work at Rite Aid and I just hate having to pack out the perishable goods like candy. The mgrs aren't in control of some items we are shipped. They are just sent to us by the whse. I am sick and tired of getting the same box of candy each delivery when we haven't sold 1!!!No wonder there are so many outdates. This stuff comes in every week!




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