Four California counties alleged that the packaging of CVS products like this anti-wrinkle cream misled shoppers into thinking they were getting much more than what was inside.
Isn’t it great when you buy a box that looks like it contains a large jar of face cream only to find out that what’s inside is much smaller than you’d expected? Drugstore megachain CVS recently agreed to pay $225,000 to settle allegations in California that it tweaked its packaging on nearly a dozen store-brand products to trick customers into thinking they were getting more than they really were.
ABC30 in Fresno reports that CVS was accused by investigators from four California counties of violating state regulations by misrepresenting product sizes or quantity with the “use of oversized and non-functional slack-fill and/or false sidewalls and /or false bottoms.”
Among the 11 products cited by investigators are CVS brand Accelerated Wrinkle Repair Moisturizer, Age Refine Eye Cream, Anti-Wrinkle And Firming Cream, Moisturizing Face Cream Hair Remover, Maximum Scalp Relief, and the Ultra Firm And Lift Eye Duo.
The four counties involved in the settlement — Fresno, Yolo, Sacramento, Shasta — will share in the $225,000 settlement.
But don’t expect to see a quick change in the packaging at CVS, as the company is allowed to continue manufacturing these products as they are until January 1, 2015. Since these things don’t necessarily fly off shelves, CVS has another two years to sell out the inventory of these air-filled boxes.
The company confirmed the settlement to ABC30 and says that it will design the packaging of these products, but lays some of the blame off on the manufacturers of these products and says that its products “are generally designed to be similar to the national brand equivalents.”
CVS claims it is “committed to ensuring that its product packaging is sufficient in size to accommodate pertinent information about the product.”
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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