I don't think they do.
I doubt it. I have never heard of drugstores doing price matches.
I ran into the same problem. I did a online chat with CS and asked about their policy. They told me that you can buy with cc. A few hours later, I had a apology email from district manager and he said he would contact the stores personally to let them know the correct policy. The employees are getting confused with the green dot policy of cash/debit only.
Well, when I chatted with rite aid CS on Thursday, they told me that company policy is to accept cc for them. The district manager told me his employees were getting confused by the green dot policy. Try talking with CS (I used that chat option on their website). If there really is a policy just for Philly, they will tell you. I live in Allentown, and all the stores in the city turned me down, but like you, when I went to one out of town a bit, they were fine.
All of the ones in Southwest PA that I've visited have signs posted stating that. Although they were not accepting CCs before the signs and the holidays, too.
It's a little annoying... I've normally bought my gift cards at CVS but this coupon has made me chase Vanilla cards at Rite Aid. Luckily I've found a couple (including the one across the street from my apartment) that will let me by with a CC (maybe it's because I buy them quite often and they know me and have never had a problem from me).
