Bewildered CVS shoppers keep getting super-long receipts

JC Reindl | Detroit Free Press

Vikki Jackson was at a Detroit CVS on Christmas Eve when the cash register went crazy, as if she had hit some sort of jackpot.

The receipt jackpot.

The printer spit out inch after inch of a massive black-and-white receipt featuring 10 separate coupons for items such as shampoo, toothpaste and contact lens solution. With assistance from a reporter and a metal ruler, she measured the receipt in the store's parking lot: 41 inches, or almost 3½ feet.

But like a number of other CVS shoppers, she wasn't thrilled to be handed such an awkwardly long chain of coupons — even though the potential savings were good.

“And this isn’t the longest I’ve received," said Jackson, 59, of Detroit. "The guys in there know me because I complain every time. I’m fussing the whole time I’m standing there, waiting for it to tick tick tick tick out.”

CVS has been handing out these unusually long receipts for years, even as its practice became the butt of jokes and Internet memes. Jokesters have compared long CVS receipts to Meghan Markle's 16-foot wedding veil, the length of babies and the size of vertical window blinds. A California man once supersized his CVS receipt to create a Halloween costume.

Because the coupon-laden receipts are prompted by use of the drugstore chain's ExtraCare loyalty cards, which virtually track customers' purchase information, Jackson wondered why CVS doesn't also virtually store the coupons and receipts — adding convenience and saving all that paper.

Other chains such as Rite Aid do it that way.

"Put all of those coupons on my card; save the trees," she said.

One of my blinds broke in my bedroom so I just went to CVS pic.twitter.com/0QghmXKZ7R — andrew (@andrewnolan2) December 5, 2018

Joe Goode, senior director of communications for CVS, said in a statement to the Free Press that customers indeed have the option to opt out of paper receipts and receive digital coupons to their email or CVS mobile app. That option began in 2016, he said, "saving more than 3 billion inches of paper" since then.

Goode also said CVS receipts do not contain the chemical Bisphenol A, commonly called BPA, which is an endocrine disruptor that can be absorbed through the skin and has been linked to heightened risk for some cancers. There has been increased concern in recent years about BPA-containing thermal cash register receipts.

"Our retail receipts have been BPA-free since 2012," the CVS representative said.

when you marry a cvs receipt pic.twitter.com/JmJgj4lGz0 — J.Cyrus (@JCyrus) May 20, 2018

Not opted out

Nevertheless, many CVS shoppers haven't taken the steps to opt out of paper receipts for the digital versions, so they still get monster receipts with every trip to the register. CVS shoppers must enroll in the ExtraCare program to receive full discounts on sale items.

Temeko Manica, 50, of Detroit also was handed a long chain of paper at the CVS. She said she knows about the opt-out option, but because she made the drugstore trip for her mother, whose ExtraCare account still gets traditional receipts, she had no choice but to accept the super-long receipt waiting for her.

“It would benefit me to go ahead and finish the (opt-out) process, so it would be just like the other stores and it would be on your phone," Manica said.

Manica said she often finds helpful coupons on the receipts that can shave as much as $6 off the price of certain items. But such coupons often expire in a week.

"They expire sometimes too fast for me," she said.

Not all customers even use the coupons on their receipts, abandoning any potential savings.

Suneth Jayawardana, 29, of Detroit was given a 33½-inch receipt during his store visit. He said it may be the longest CVS receipt he ever received. He acknowledged that they often come with good deals, but said he has yet to redeem any of the receipts' coupons.

In contrast, Cheree Williams, 46, of Detroit is a big fan of the receipts and their many coupons, which she said she tries to use in the stores as much as possible. She isn't bothered by the quick-to-arrive expiration dates.

"If you frequent CVS as much as I do, then it doesn’t really matter," she said. "It saves money!"

Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.