Longtime customers of Target’s pharmacies are finding CVS’ change in pill bottle design hard to swallow

In this Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, photo, Shelley Ewalt sits in her home, in Princeton, N.J., near an amber-colored CVS pharmacy prescription bottle, right, and two uniquely designed red ones from Target. After CVS took over operation of Target's drugstores earlier this year, distraught customers have been asking the drugstore chain to bring back the retailer’s red prescription bottles, which came with color-coded rings, labeling on the top and prescription information that was easier to read. Ewalt tweeted to the drugstore chain, asking if there was any chance they might return to the design of the Target bottles, which she found easier to open. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) ORG XMIT: NJME251 Photo: Mel Evans / Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Seeing red over CVS change

Target customers say bland bottles replace Target red containers

Why do people patronize companies that could care less about what makes the customer happy or meets the person’s needs or wants ? Isn’t that the basic premise of a good business plan ? Personally, I refuse to patronize companies that expect me to BEG THEM to allow them to take my money.  I have always seemed to be able to find a local business that appreciates my business and it appreciates me spending my money at their establishment.

http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Seeing-red-over-CVS-change-9313227.php

In this Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016, photo, Shelley Ewalt sits in her home, in Princeton, N.J., near an amber-colored CVS pharmacy prescription bottle, right, and two uniquely designed red ones from Target. After CVS took over operation of Target’s drugstores earlier this year, distraught customers have been asking the drugstore chain to bring back the retailer’s red prescription bottles, which came with color-coded rings, labeling on the top and prescription information that was easier to read. Ewalt tweeted to the drugstore chain, asking if there was any chance they might return to the design of the Target bottles, which she found easier to open.

Longtime customers of Target’s pharmacies are finding a change in pill bottle design hard to swallow.

After CVS began operating Target’s drugstores earlier this year, distraught customers have been asking — in some cases begging — the drugstore chain to bring back the retailer’s red prescription bottles, which came with color-coded rings, labeling on the top and prescription information that was easier to read.

 Some customers also took more drastic steps.

Vivian Ruth Sawyer went fishing through her trash to rescue the old Target bottles soon after opening her stapled prescription bag to find the dowdy, white-capped amber vials that are common in most medicine cabinets. She has since poured refills of her thyroid medicine into the old Target bottles, even though they don’t have the right expiration dates. It’s worth it, she said, because those bottles make it easier to tell her prescriptions apart when she looks in her drawer for them.

“This is really inconvenient and irritating,” the Louisville, Ky., resident said.

CVS says it is working on designing a new system for dispensing prescriptions and helping people stay on their medications, but spokeswoman Carolyn Castel declined to share details or say whether that might involve an updated bottle design.

Meanwhile, shoppers continue to mourn the loss of a bottle that was considered groundbreaking when it debuted about a decade ago and was once on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Target flipped bottle design on its head in 2005 when it introduced a red container with the opening on the bottom. That allowed the label to wrap around the top so it could be seen from above.

It included a flat surface that customers found easier to read than the curve of a typical pill bottle, and it came with color-coded rings for the neck to help family members quickly tell their medicines apart.

One Response

  1. Be careful CVS , you just might be seen as a company that gives a dam about the needs and wants of your customers!

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