If you’re a bargain hunter looking to make money, you might be able to get cash for expired goods at CVS. The pharmacy chain will pay customers $3 coupons for every expired item they find in its stores, according to a video posted on TikTok by @heygranty.
CVS has a history of selling expired food items. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office’s Health Care Section reached a $450,000 settlement with the pharmacy chain in 2016, while stores in North Carolina were found to carry expired items on their shelves.
The Office of the Attorney General in Connecticut sued CVS in 2009 for selling expired food, beverages, and over-the-counter medications at 20 or more stores. Coupons in the News reported that CVS gave a store credit to customers who found expired items in their stores in 2016, while in 2009, California Attorney General Judge Edmund G. Brown Jr. reported that customers were entitled to coupons for expired items.
CVS agreed in 2010 to implement a system to ensure that expired products were not sold after a settlement with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office’s Health Care Section. However, a recent compliance check revealed expired products in five of six stores that agents visited, and employees in two cases bypassed a register prompt designed to prohibit the sale of expired products.
Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office’s Health Care Section has announced that CVS stores in Pennsylvania agreed to a $450,000 settlement of allegations that they violated the 2010 agreement regarding the handling of expired products, including over-the-counter medications and infant formula. CVS will give customers a $3.50 coupon for each expired product they discover and implement policies and procedures, including internal compliance checks and regular store inspections.
CVS hopes that it will not have to hand out $3.50 coupons in the future, and it has policies and procedures in place to remove expired products from its shelves. Although CVS’s settlement with the state of Pennsylvania ended on January 20, 2021, CVS continues to offer enhanced discount coupons to customers in Pennsylvania who notify store employees if they find certain expired products.
Outdaters are customers who seek out expired products to get $3.50 coupons, causing some CVS employees to become annoyed. However, some CVS employees have accepted outdaters, with some saying that they would even pay in-store coupons for someone to check their outdated products monthly.
In conclusion, while CVS’s policy on expired goods has been put to the test by the lawsuits, it seems the company is trying to make amends by offering coupons and ensuring its policies and procedures are up to standard. But with bargain hunters seeking out expired items, it remains to be seen if the pharmacy giant can keep them off its shelves for good.
