Rite Aid Ain't doing it Right

I must confess that I have a passion for pistachio ice cream.  The only place around here where I can get my fix is at the local Rite-Aid store.  I usually try to buy it when it is on sale (usually, 2 for $6.00).  Then, sometimes, they have manufacturer's coupons right on the package (35 cents). Through time I have noticed that the ice cream with the manufacturer's coupons were manufactured earlier and it is the way the manufacturer can get rid of their older stock. I have also noticed that both the date of manufacture and the expiration date are on the bottom of the package.  One final observation is that the ice cream with the manufacturer's coupon on it does not taste as good as the ice cream that is fresher (what a surprise!).  In fact, the older ice cream has frozen crystals of ice within the ice cream, making it unsmooth.  Not very tasty.

So, this evening I went down to the store to get my fix.  No sale, no coupons.  I picked up the first package and turned it over: manufactured almost 5 years ago, freshness expiration about 3 years ago. Give me a break. I went looking for other expiration dates. They were all over the place. Many expired.  I even found one that was manufactured within the last 30 days! (this is the one I bought).

I have mentioned to the staff a few times, my findings that the expiration dates have passed on some of the ice cream.  Once, I actually saw them removing the ice cream.  Were they moving it to the rear so that after I left some other uninformed sucker got stuck with it.  I really can't imagine that they removed the ice cream from the freezer and put it into the garbage can, or on the shelf for the next deliveryman to return the ice cream to the manufacturer.

This evening I got a novel answer when I informed the staff that the ice cream freshness date was expired by a few years.  "Oh, the delivery people who bring the ice cream are supposed to check the dates and remove the stale product."   "Sure!" I said.

Look at CVS. They just announced last week that they will no longer be selling cigarettes in their stores and take a major hit on their bottom line for that decision.  The reason they state it that selling cigarettes is inconsistent with the health care objectives that they want to project to the public.  And what image does Rite Aid want to project onto the public with their de facto policy on stale food removal? And then again, if they do it with the food, what are they doing with the pharmaceuticals that they sell?  They have "sell by" dates on them too.  Exactly what is their policy?

Shame on you, Rite Aid.

CVS Needs to Get their Act Together

I went to the local CVS to get some aspirin.  I bought some aspirin that was on sale and also some gum that was also on sale  -- 2 for $2.50. I went to the cash register to check out and the clerk rang up the items while I looked at the small screen as the items passed by.  First, the aspirin rang at full price.  I commented that I did not get the sale price.  The attendant asked if I had a CVS card.  I gave her the card and it showed the discount. Then she rang up the gum and it did not show the discount.  She voided the entire transaction and started over.  She asked for the total amount due. The small screen still showed the price of the gum undiscounted.  She looked carefully at her screen and said that I was getting the discounted price.  I showed her in the screen that the amount was not discounted.  In a matter of fact voice she said that sometimes the small screen does not show the same price as the screen she is looking at. Come again? What planet is the software designer who designed that system coming from?
I think that the most galling thing was the way she expected me to swallow that one as being a reasonable thing for a cash register to do.