Many of the coupons purportedly redeemed by customers were also in consecutive order when they arrived in bundles at the office of Rancho Bernardo-based Imagenetix.
Imagenetix is claiming in a federal lawsuit that the drugstore chain never got the coupons into customers’ hands, as promised, and printed them only to make money for its bottom line — claims the company denies.
“Although we don’t generally comment on the details of pending litigation, we take any allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate them thoroughly,” said Walgreens spokeswoman Vivika Panagiotakakos in an email from the company’s headquarters in Deerfield, Ill. “At this time, we have no reason to believe these allegations are true.”
Celadrin is a product developed by Imagenetix, a Rancho Bernardo business. The company sought to promote the nutritional supplement through Walgreens' in-house coupon program but now believes the program was mismanaged. — Earnie Grafton
The one-week promotion was aimed at getting customers to try Celadrin Inflame Away softgels, a healthy-joint supplement, essentially for free. A normally $20.99 bottle of capsules was on sale for $10 at the chain’s 8,000 stores. Customers who purchased it received a coupon, printed at the register, for $10 off a future Walgreens purchase.
The drugstore chain then billed Imagenetix for $533,000 “for coupons purportedly redeemed” plus $188,000 for scanning fees, states the lawsuit filed Nov. 18 in U.S. District Court.
The evidence in the case includes stacks of white, paper coupons without creases or marks that Walgreens said customers had redeemed in stores.
“We have a lot of confidence in this case,” said Daniel Kotchen, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney hired by Imagenetix. “We believe in it, and we think it’s an important case for the industry at large.”
Panagiotakakos declined to provide an explanation for why the coupons would be in pristine condition, saying there would be no further comment.
An estimated 1,500 products are featured in the Walgreens’ in-house couponing program each year, Kotchen said. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status and states that damages could exceed $5 million from Walgreens, an industry leader with $72 billion in total annual revenue, according to its investor website.
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