CVS and Rite Aid Officially Disable Apple Pay Support At Stores Nationwide

[spectrumfox]

Of course it's a douchey move. It's an appropriately douchey response to a douchey manoeuvre by the company.

And they'll complain to their boss, and they'll complain to their boss, and so forth. This is how things get fixed - from the grassroots level. Enough people do it and there'll be an obvious monetary penalty to the company. Until they're negatively impacted, they won't give a crap about the customer.

So your plan to combat their douchey move is to be an even bigger douche?

That's not going to accomplish anything. There's no way a casher is going to go to bat for you with their manager after you treat them that way. You'll just become that customer and they'll most likely remove you from the store and refuse to listen to you.

Somehow I don't think you thought your cunning plan through...

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Collusion and illegal collusion are two separate acts. Right now, today, there is nothing illegal about MCX's consortium. Nothing.

There was nothing Apple did that was illegal in the eBook case either but that didn't stop the DOJ from pushing the issue - Other than Bezos being a large support of Obama.

 

[BigBeast]

For anyone that needs/wants a shortcut to express their dissatisfaction to CVS or Rite Aid, I've attached the comment I made to CVS's Customer Relations Department. You can use it as a template to make future comments easier.

CVS Customer Relations Website

I just wanted to send a quick message to CVS expressing my disappointment in their decision to pull Apple Pay support from their credit card readers. I find the vastly increased security, transaction anonymity, and ease of use of Apple Pay to be a far greater shopping experience than what has been offered traditionally. Because of this, I have decided to support your competitor Walgreens with my prescription and shopping needs.

Had CVS decided to not support Apple Pay prior to its rollout, I wouldn't have minded in the least, but support was pulled *after* the fact, which shows me that CVS does not value their customer's right to privacy, security and a pleasant shopping experience. I choose not to support a company with such values. Thank you for making my decision to find another retailer that much easier– I have found the shopping experience at Walgreens to be just as good, if not better than CVS, and I will express my opinion to my friends, family and others.

 

[mobiletomobile]

Feedback

CVS
http://www.cvs.com/help/email-customer-relations.jsp?callType=store&topicid=200018




Rite-Aid
https://www.riteaid.com/customer-support/contact-us

 

[dotme]

Both companies are starting to see backlash on their Facebook pages too

 

[swissglide]

Went to RiteAid today, picked up a couple hundred bucks worth of merchandise. Made it to the register, attempted to use ApplePay, got rejected. Left the merchandise there and departed the store, audibly stating that I am now heading to Walgreens. Repeated at the local CVS.

 

[bushman4]

Excuse my language.Scree any company where I can't pay the way I want

 

[TomTomHatesCats]

Went to RiteAid today, picked up a couple hundred bucks worth of merchandise. Made it to the register, attempted to use ApplePay, got rejected. Left the merchandise there and departed the store, audibly stating that I am now heading to Walgreens. Repeated at the local CVS.

Did you do that knowing you'd get rejected?

 

[paul4339]

Isn't MCX just an American consortium? The way I see it, they have 36-48 months to build enough momentum and make it acceptable and widespread adopted by consumers... iPhones (and Android smartphones) by that time will all have NFC.

To me these consortium or joint ventures needs a dedicated driving party that pushes it forward, otherwise it ends up to be too many chefs in the kitchen. It ends up to be like music companies trying to create their own online store to compete against iTunes..

 

[poppy10]

Except HD-DVD was actually the less clunky format, without the region codes.

Exactly. HD-DVD was the more consumer-friendly product. Blu-ray with its restrictions and stronger DRM was what the industry wanted. Blu-ray won.

 

[donny77]

If you use your bonus cards, that tracks you also. I'm not terribly concerned about that.

I agree, when it is my choice. I can choose to let them scan my loyalty card or say I don't have one. MCX stands for Merchant Customer Exchange. With MCX Target is tracking my Red Card purchases, but Walmart also gets to see all my Red Card purchases at Target. I am not as keen on that level of non-privacy.

 

[poppy10]

Went to RiteAid today, picked up a couple hundred bucks worth of merchandise. Made it to the register, attempted to use ApplePay, got rejected. Left the merchandise there and departed the store, audibly stating that I am now heading to Walgreens. Repeated at the local CVS.

I bet the minimum-wage worker who had to spend his break cleaning up after you went straight to the CEO and insisted they start accepting Apple Pay again. Super-effective strategy.

----------

Collusion.

How is it collusion any more than Apple signing deals with banks and retailers for their payment system? Groups of companies are allowed to get together and devise their own system. And they are under no legal obligation to allow competitors to have a presence in their stores

 

[donny77]

It's not just CVS and Rite Aid. It was started by WalMart. Best Buy and and about 30 other retailers are involved.

They want to avoid the 2%-3% credit card fees they've been paying by preventing you from using your credit card. They also want your data to market to you with more personalized mailings.

The 2-3% is a convenient excuse, it is not the reason. If you think ACH transactions are free, you are wrong. If you think MCX will not have tons of expenses in building, maintaining and securing their "cloud vault" you are wrong. And who is covering liability when the cloud vault gets compromised? Lastly, retailers do NOT pay 3% out of their profits. It is included in the cost of the goods, wether there is a swipe charge or not.

----------

How is it collusion any more than Apple signing deals with banks and retailers for their payment system? Groups of companies are allowed to get together and devise their own system. And they are under no legal obligation to allow competitors to have a presence in their stores

It is collusion because presumably the MCX agreement with members is that they not accept any other form of electronic wallet except CurrentC. Apple did not make deals with banks that precluded their VISA cards from working with Google Wallet. Very big difference.

 

[prowlmedia]

Thats just not possible. They cant make it illegal to refuse accept nfc payments because they still accept cash and cards. Next step is to sue your local farmer because he just accepts cash (has no card register) for buying eggs

Ok illegal is not perhaps right. But if they are not accepting NFC are they still accepting Chip and pin? The main problem in the US has been very poor Signature / recipe method. And as I understand it, chip and pin is very hit an miss.

So basically they are trying to force customers to use a QR camera code app which is plainly bizarre.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Haha, you'll be waiting a long time. Just shop elsewhere.

This is the equivalent of complaining to the gas station clerk about the price of gas.

It'll happen long before that. Rite Aid already emailed me back and they sound like they're backing down from the decision. They said they're checking on options before deciding anything.

 

[apolloa]

What costs involved? CVS and Rite-Aid already had NFC capable terminals installed in their stores. They still accept credit cards, just not those same credit cards via someone's phone. As far as we know the fees they pay credit card companies haven't increased. So what costs are we talking about. If it's the credit card fees then why do they still accept credit cards? Perhaps because the public has decided they prefer credit cards? If CVS has an issue with Visa and MasterCard that's not my problem. If they accept those cards for payment they should accept them in any form whether it's a piece of plastic or a mobile phone.

Well as you are about the forth person the say the exact same thing I will quote you, but I remember reading on here that it would cost stores extra to support the Apple pay system hence my comment, that they can't have a one system fits all put in place. I believe it was a story and in the comments sections on here. So I guess now the actual facts of how it works are out then Apple Pay will work with existing NFC terminals?

 

[mj1108]

I don't think they were expecting the amount of backlash they are getting. It also doesn't help them that we now all know about MCX. I fully expect them at some point to give in and turn NFC back on. If they don't, they are bigger idiots than we thought they were for turning it off in the first place.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

There was nothing Apple did that was illegal in the eBook case either but that didn't stop the DOJ from pushing the issue - Other than Bezos being a large support of Obama.

Huh? A federal judge ruled Apple guilty, so I'm not sure what you are talking about there.

 

[samcraig]

Huh? A federal judge ruled Apple guilty, so I'm not sure what you are talking about there.

Well exactly.

And there's no collusion here because the stores are still accepting credit cards.

Just because you want to use your phone vs your card does not an (illegal) collusion maketh.

But what do you expect from armchair lawyers. "I don't like this - so it must be illegal!!"

 

[copykris]

Went to RiteAid today, picked up a couple hundred bucks worth of merchandise. Made it to the register, attempted to use ApplePay, got rejected. Left the merchandise there and departed the store, audibly stating that I am now heading to Walgreens. Repeated at the local CVS.

you're such a trooper, brah !

 

[dotme]

..How is it collusion any more than Apple signing deals with banks and retailers for their payment system? Groups of companies are allowed to get together and devise their own system. And they are under no legal obligation to allow competitors to have a presence in their stores

I hope you're right because if that's true, it would be great if Apple could just kick the CurrentC app out of their store the way CVS kicked NFC out of theirs.

 

[LordJohnWhorfin]

I hope you're right because if that's true, it would be great if Apple could just kick the CurrentC app out of their store the way CVS kicked NFC out of theirs.

I don't see anything stopping them.

The same way nothing is stopping me from shopping at Walgreens -- which I was already doing since CVS charges artificially inflated prices on everything and you need to use their rewards card in order to get regular prices, effectively allowing them to track your purchases.

----------

Went to RiteAid today, picked up a couple hundred bucks worth of merchandise. Made it to the register, attempted to use ApplePay, got rejected. Left the merchandise there and departed the store, audibly stating that I am now heading to Walgreens. Repeated at the local CVS.

Great for the poor schlub paid minimum wage who's going to have to reshelf all that crap... I empathize with your feelings about RiteAid and CVS but behaving like a jerk is not really going to help. This is a decision made at corporate level. Now if you want to go to the Rite Aid CEO's executive bathroom and leave an upperdecker, you have my full support.

 

[swissglide]

Did you do that knowing you'd get rejected?

No, I assumed that ApplePay would work anywhere NFC would work. I was doing my regular by-monthly shopping for the family.

I bet the minimum-wage worker who had to spend his break cleaning up after you went straight to the CEO and insisted they start accepting Apple Pay again. Super-effective strategy.



Great for the poor schlub paid minimum wage who's going to have to reshelf all that crap... I empathize with your feelings about RiteAid and CVS but behaving like a jerk is not really going to help. This is a decision made at corporate level. Now if you want to go to the Rite Aid CEO's executive bathroom and leave an upperdecker, you have my full support.

I, as a former employee of RiteAid, don't have to bet, because I know that when their POS system registers a customer decline on a large transaction, it automatically gets reviewed at the regional headquarters. As far as the "poor lad behind the counter" rhetoric goes, I am not particularly concerned. This part of the job was always less tedious that various paperwork and cleaning duties, you just add whatever rejects from the day before to the next morning's restocking. At a busy RiteAid in a relatively poor neighborhood, my pile of shampoos, conditioners and toothpast is a tiny drop in the ocean of daily rejects. It's the amount of cancelled transaction that gets noticed.

 

[dcinema]

MCX mobile payment system may perhaps turn out better and even have superior features when it debuts than Apple Pay - who knows?

Currently available info on CurrentC has it being a security and privacy bomb waiting to explode. They require & store data like your bank account, SSN, and your health info. The CurrentC security breaches will make current ones look like toys. (Whereas ApplePay, and I'm guessing Google Wallet, provide fundamental improvements.)

My work protects $35B of US IP annually. You DO NOT want to trust your most sensitive personal data to a system this security naive.

 

[Col4bin]

Merchants don't have to pay to accept ApplePay. Apple's cut comes from the banks.

Merchant's don't need to pay Apple for Apple Pay, correct. However, merchant's still need to pay transaction fees to the credit card companies.