The price is right - mostly

CVS Caremark cited nearly 2,800 times since '07 for violations

CVS-Caremark said the manual changing of pricing signs and stickers has been problematic. (Lisa Poole/Associated Press/File 2008)

CVS Caremark Corp., the nation's biggest pharmacy chain, was fined more than $275,000 since January 2007 for nearly 2,800 alleged violations of Massachusetts rules on pricing accuracy - by far the most penalized of any retailer in the state.

CVS accounted for more than 20 percent of the fines assessed by the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, an analysis of the penalties showed. The violations for CVS, which historically has been the leading fine getter, were for everything from prices scanning incorrectly to items having no price sticker to inaccurate signs on shelves.

"Historically, when items go on or off sale, that's when you find the errors," said Charles Carroll, deputy director of Consumer Affairs' Division of Standards. "Sometimes someone just carelessly puts the price in the computer."

Fines are issued to retailers as part of about 4,000 random inspections some 20 division inspectors conduct each year, sampling prices on products throughout the stores. While scanners tend to be accurate at most stores and the overwhelming majority of retailers comply with Massachusetts laws, Carroll said some of the bigger chains, including CVS, often miss the mark.

In all, the state meted out more than $1.2 million in fines since 2007 for more than 15,000 violations. Among those issued the most violations are Natick-based BJ's Wholesale Club, which was written up for more than 2,000 violations, and Walgreens and Shaw's each were cited for more than 1,000 in the 18-month period.

CVS, with operations in 44 states, said the require ments of Massachusetts' laws are demanding and vigorously enforced. CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis said the manual changing of signs on shelves and of prices on items each week has been problematic as different products are put on sale.

"We're constantly reinforcing our policies in stores to try to keep our error rate to the lowest rate possible," DeAngelis said. "This is a very labor-intensive process that is not immune from human error. It does cause things to be missed."

Having 340 stores in Massachusetts, DeAngelis said, also goes toward explaining why CVS is hit with so many fines. He noted the sale price will be honored on any item a customer notices ringing up at an incorrect price.

Krista Kiley of Grafton said that has been her experience. "I shop at CVS probably every other day. I always buy things on sale," she said. "A couple of times it didn't ring up at the sale price."

Each time, she said the store clerk adjusted the price without a hassle.

Wendy MacDonald of Winthrop said she hasn't found pricing accuracy to be a big problem, although she recently bought a magazine that rang up $1.50 more than the posted price at a Home Depot. MacDonald said her biggest issue is with stores that don't have screens that allow customers to see the price at the register.

"Some stores you really can't watch the price ring up," she said. "I don't like that."

Retailers have long complained about the state's pricing laws, which require prices to be affixed to most items in stores - with a healthy list of exceptions that include items at the end of aisles, frozen goods, and a list of 400 other items determined by the store. Massachusetts and Michigan are the only states with such a law.

Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said changes made to the rules over the years - and different laws for different types of products - needs reform by Beacon Hill lawmakers. The most recent attempt to alter the laws failed to win enough support to get through the legislative session.

"At some point we've got to make some sense out of this and reform these laws," Hurst said. "We want to make sure prices are clear, conspicuous, and accurate, and make sure they're as low as possible."

The laws are very expensive to comply with, he said, because of the labor-intensive nature of changing the price on every item on a shelf when it goes on sale or if there is some other price adjustment.

The Massachusetts Food Association estimated it can cost $150,000 to $300,000 a year per grocery store to comply with item-pricing laws.

Hurst cited another study that says complying with the laws can add 10 percent to the price of groceries.

"In this day and age if you have a family of four and you spend $200 a week, is it worth $20 a week to have an antiquated sticker on every item?" he asked.

Deirdre Cummings, legislative director for the consumer advocacy group MassPIRG, said the inspection results demonstrate the need for the laws.

Cummings also blamed the retailers themselves for all the changes to the laws over the years, which have made them complicated. The retailers have won numerous adjustments to the rules, she said, in their quest each year to overturn them.

"The number of violations that have come up as a result of our enforcement demonstrates that we have to have strong price disclosure laws, and they ought to be enforced," she said. "We can't rely on the retailers to do it themselves."