Check your receipts at CVS archived

pixigirl

Oct 13, 2012 at 3:39pm

I bought a bunch of stuff at CVS this afternoon. You know running errands...rush in...rush out onto the next errand. I spent quite a bit but I felt good cause most of the stuff I needed was on sale anyway. Well this evening I realized I forgot coffee so I ran back out again and hurray the Dunkin Donuts coffee was n sale for 6.99 a pack. Great, so I grab two and a couple of other things and got to the register. .she rings me up while a chat with a lady with a teeny dog in her arm. I walk out and glance at the receipt and see that the DD Coffee was 9.79 each so I stopped and walked back. I told one of the staff members and she picks up the phone and calls the manager and asks "did you put the sale on the register" .. and then she says "oh ok". She hangs up and turns to me and says "The manager didnt put the sale for this week on the register so this is the normal price and not the sales price. Just go back to where you checked out and she will refund you." Great so I got 5.60 back. I told her I spent over 170 in here this afternoon and does this mean I got none of the sales prices? And she confirms that because he hasnt coded the register no sakes prices ring up.

I am pissed cause alot of it was cleaning supplies and I used a bunch this afternoon and me stupid threw out the receipt so I was propably overpaying at least 25 dollars which really ticks me off now.

crazy_quilter

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:11pm

did you use a credit card?

RangerWalker

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:16pm

CVS also "forgets" to apply any coupons you happen to provide (summon manager to refund whole transaction an re-ring all items). And prices on shelf often do not match register.

Gabby

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:23pm

Do you have the CVS extra savings card? It's like a loyalty card and offers the extra savings.

RangerWalker

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:27pm

Yes I have the card. And if forgotten, they can enter your Phn number. But I find this is a store where you really need to watch and review what you are being charged.

KarenMarlowe

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:28pm

I went to CVS this week. Bought Aveeno face wash and lotion (boy! Has that gotten expensive!) Q-Tips, mouthwash (and something else?). Rang up to $40+. With a 25% off and a $3 off of $15 and my bonus bucks, I spent about $25! Their prices are not the best, but with sales they are awesome!

wendy

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:33pm

If pixiegirl used her CVS card they should be able to tell what she bought or just bring everything back, receipt or not, and they can re-ring up everything as RangerWalker suggested. And yes, I agree with marylago. Sales with the 25% off coupon are great (often I lose or can't find the extra coupons or bonus bucks). Just remember that that the 25% off doesn't apply to anything even nominally on sale.

mpwdmom

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:34pm

which CVS did you go to?

KarenMarlowe

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:37pm

mpwdmom said:
which CVS did you go to?

I use the 20 South Valley Road West Orange one, in case you are directing your question to me, mpwdmom.

Freeway

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:53pm

Cvs weekly sales arent put into the register by a manager. Like walgreens and many other retailers cvs gets the prices adjusted by some form of a batch file sent over by regional or corporate at a set time. If they hang the sales tags early they obviously have to honor the sales tag prices. Someone is being lazy and not hanging the tags at the correct time. Walgreens prices change over sometime on saturday evening if memory serves me correctly.

Cvs is not cheap but with extra bucks mfr coupons and stores sales i get free tooth paste , shampoo, and laundry detergent almosy every week. Last week i walked out of the morris ave store with $30 worth of stuff for $0.85. (coupon for every item, some items on sale $14 in extra bucks)

wendy

Oct 13, 2012 at 4:59pm

How does one get the extra bucks? Is that the paper that gets printed out after a purchase that I then have to save for use next time or is this something that just gets applied when I use my CVS card for a purchase? Or is this something I need to download?

Freeway

Oct 13, 2012 at 5:17pm

The cashier scans your card and then Extra bucks print on the bottom of the receipt when you purchase an item that has an extra bucks reward attatched to it, quarterly as a 2% back rebate, or every 4 trips when they scan your green bag tag. Ill often buy an item that has a $2 extra bucks reward then use that reward to get another item for free on a 2nd transaction

wendy

Oct 13, 2012 at 5:22pm

I don't quite understand. I see the Extra stuff printed out on the receipt but are you saying you then are saving it for a future trip (sort of a hassle given the limited time us involved) or can you just use it on the same purchase with getting another product and counting it as a separate transaction. What is the green bag tag and the 2% back rebate? I only know of the large percent off coupons I seem to get in the mail or when I check the CVS sent email.

Freeway

Oct 13, 2012 at 5:46pm

If toothpaste is on sale its often 1.29 after $2 extrabucks back. I go up to the counter , the cashier scans my card. I pay $3.29 for the toothpaste and a $2 extra bucks coupon that can be used on anything in the store prints. I then go back into the store and shop for the other items i need. 15 minutes later im using the $2 extra buck coupon that just printed. Often times the register will autogenerate coupons for items similar to the ones you are buying and print them out on the bottom of the receipt. If you buy coke you get a pepsi coupon and so on.

Once a quarter an extra bucks reward prints for 2% of what you spent during that quarter. There is a running tally of your spending on thw bottom of the receipt just before the coupons.

The green bag tag costs $0.99 and cvs gives you an extra buck for buying it. Attach the tag to a reusable bag and the cashier can scan it once a day. Every 4 trips to cvs where a bag tag is scanned in conjunction with your extra bucks card generates a $1 extrabucks reward.

wendy

Oct 13, 2012 at 6:09pm

Thanks for all this info Freeway. I'll have to try it out.

Freeway

Oct 13, 2012 at 6:11pm

You're welcome. Make sure they scan the card you can even store it in an iphone app like myechain.

CoffeeKing

Oct 14, 2012 at 2:58am

When you walk into CVS, scan your card at the red machine. Additional coupons will print out. I don't know why or how they choose items, but last week it gave me a free CVS-brand hair care product. I don't need it (I have so much!) but I put it in my OLS food pantry bag to donate. Easy...

Tom_Reingold

Oct 14, 2012 at 3:07am

I can't forgive CVS for how they messed up my wife's prescription and didn't apologize. This was in the Millburn store.

krnl

Oct 14, 2012 at 3:17am

I once asked the cashier about that red machine and got an "I don't know" response, "just use your CVS card here."

I haven't gone to CVS in awhile. I never used those coupons on a repeat visit because they always had expired by the time I was there again. And, what Freeway described--just too complex to keep track of unless you are in the store frequently.

CVS had been my go-to for photography related and toiletries. Too often the photo machines were tempermental and waiting around for assistance tedious. They used to have buy-one/get-one. Lately it has been get the second one for 50% off--so we went from 50% off for the 2 items to 25% off. Not compelling.

spontaneous

Oct 14, 2012 at 3:58am

krnl said:

I haven't gone to CVS in awhile. I never used those coupons on a repeat visit because they always had expired by the time I was there again. And, what Freeway described--just too complex to keep track of unless you are in the store frequently.

This.

I've read other places too where you can get stuff for pennies on the dollar by using extra bucks, coupons, sales, etc, at CVS. But on the other website that explained what to do (they listed week by week what and how to buy to get the most savings) and even the post earlier in this thread, it seems as though you need to make multiple trips to the register to buy one list, etc. I love saving money, but needing a spreadsheet to figure out what to purchase in what order is just too complicated.

susan1014

Oct 14, 2012 at 4:00am

Tom_Reingold said:
I can't forgive CVS for how they messed up my wife's prescription and didn't apologize. This was in the Millburn store.

I agree that I will never fill a prescription there again. But I'm happy to buy their loss leaders as part of my plan to get my household supplies as cheaply as possible. They aren't making much money on me!

krnl said:
I haven't gone to CVS in awhile. I never used those coupons on a repeat visit because they always had expired by the time I was there again. And, what Freeway described--just too complex to keep track of unless you are in the store frequently.

The drugstore deals are only worth doing if you track and manage the little coupons. I didn't when I was employed full-time, and was just annoyed every time I found and threw the expired ones away. But I do track them now, as part of my new frugality.

My system is pretty simple...I have a little coupon binder where I keep all of the store reward coupons. In addition (and more importantly), I always have an email to myself listing what reward coupons they have, by store, with expiration dates. I update and resend this email after shopping trips, and also use it to keep track of the sale items when the Sunday coupons come out, and of what we are running short on at home. Makes it easy for me to pop in and get what I need before the deals expire (or to make the occasional decision not to bother).

So I know that hubby needs Sudafed, and that I have $9 of coupons about to expire at Walgreens...so that will be today's destination.

Freeway

Oct 14, 2012 at 4:01am

krnl said:

And, what Freeway described--just too complex to keep track of unless you are in the store frequently.

CVS had been my go-to for photography related and toiletries. Too often the photo machines were tempermental and waiting around for assistance tedious. They used to have buy-one/get-one. Lately it has been get the second one for 50% off--so we went from 50% off for the 2 items to 25% off. Not compelling.

It does sound complex but i spend 5 minutes looking through the cvs ad on sunday morning and another 5 minutes looking through the manufacturers coupons inserts. I save a bundle.

For photo stuff i go to the walgreens on morris ave in union. Either David or Andy are in the department most days after 5 pm. 2 of the most competent on the ball photo clerks in the entire chain. I do alot of things with film like redscaling and cross
Processing and the pics always come out amazing. I sent alot of my digital stuff there too and its always ready early and just how i ordered it.

cody

Oct 14, 2012 at 4:03am

I hate the "extra bucks" on specific products. At one time, they kept a tally of what you spent and you got a card in the mail once a quarter for x number of dollars to be used as you wanted at a CVS. It did have an expiration date, but it wasn't tied to a specific brand or product. Now, while you do get the extra bucks occasionally, you mostly get a small amount off something you've bought, or related to something you've bought and the expiration dates are VERY short. If I've just bought something, I probably don't want to buy another one within 7 days just to store it at home somewhere.

wendy

Oct 14, 2012 at 4:13am

Yes, I'm with spontaneous, krnl and others who say this is all too complicated. I tend to just use the large percent off coupon that comes occasionally but I appreciate freeway's advice and I'm quite impressed with susan's system. Susan, I do save coupons too in a soft coupon holder which I carry around but it never seems to work out with the CVS coupons and I can't see going back to the register to get something again as freeway suggested. Working or not, I'm impressed with your tracking system.

susan1014

Oct 14, 2012 at 4:46am

cody said:
I hate the "extra bucks" on specific products. At one time, they kept a tally of what you spent and you got a card in the mail once a quarter for x number of dollars to be used as you wanted at a CVS. It did have an expiration date, but it wasn't tied to a specific brand or product. Now, while you do get the extra bucks occasionally, you mostly get a small amount off something you've bought, or related to something you've bought and the expiration dates are VERY short. If I've just bought something, I probably don't want to buy another one within 7 days just to store it at home somewhere.

In my experience most extrabucks tell what product you bought to get them, but are usable on almost anything

BaseballMom

Oct 14, 2012 at 5:44am

CVS has an iPhone app where you can log in and check your prescriptions etc. if you enter your Extra Care Card account info, the app will give you a barcode you can scan at the register if you don't have your card with you. You can also get a lot of the coupons sent to your phone too so you can check them when you're in the store.

pixigirl

Oct 14, 2012 at 7:02am Edited

I have and use the extra care and I went there today to check. The weekly special sales will NOT ring up on the register unless that particualr sales batch is added to the register. So the extra bucks will not count or ring up unless the register is acknowleding the item as one of the weekly sales items. This is what I was told today at CVS in West Orange on Valley. I have a move to do in 2.5 weeks and am under enourmous time pressure so I will have to let this slide but I am just letting you know...watch the receipts.

Bee

Oct 14, 2012 at 7:23am

Tom_Reingold said:
I can't forgive CVS for how they messed up my wife's prescription and didn't apologize. This was in the Millburn store.

same here - with my daughter's prescription at the Millburn store. They never asked her bday and then gave us a prescription for a much older girl with the same name who lives in Millburn. Now I know to double check this everywhere, since this girl uses the same pediatrician, pharmacies and eye doctors as us!

cody

Oct 14, 2012 at 9:13am

Yes for the "extra bucks", but there are others that are tagged to a specific product and I think that's the product you have to use them on. Like "$2.00 off your next purchase of Hallmark cards" or something along those lines. I probably should have been more specific in the previous post.

flugermongers

Oct 14, 2012 at 9:54am

You have to check your prescriptions anywhere! Human error is big... Make sure you know what you're getting!
Same for receipts, actually.

lizziecat

Oct 14, 2012 at 10:13am

When my doctor gives me a new prescription, I write down the name of it, and the dosage (i.e. 10 mm, 40 mm) and instructions for taking it. I ask about side effects, and I ask her what it should look like. Then I go home and look it up on-line. When I fill the prescription, before I pay for it, I open the package in front of the cash register and I check it out--the name, the dosage, even the color of the pills. On two occasions I have caught serious errors, and once I was given someone else's medication. Human beings make mistakes. We need to protect ourselves by being alert and informed.