Went today to pick up prescriptions for my wife.She has been fighting cancer for 3 years now, and I have been the one to pick up her meds, i am her husband.anyway, this is a two part gripe, the first being the kid in line in front of me.He was picking up a prescription.The pharmacist (Ruby)asked him the address and did all the right things.She rang his stuff up, and he also had a bottle of Robitussin .She refused to sell him the Robitussin because he was underage.My question is how he can pick up a prescribed medicine but not one off the shelf?It is my belief he should have not been sold either product.
Now its my turn.I give the name, address, and date of birth of my wife.Ok, she gets her meds off the will call shelf, asks me address again and proceeds to ring it up.I take out my visa and swipe it, she says "why dont you have insurance?'I explained that her medicaid was up for renewal, while she was in the hospital, 9for 21 days, with kidney problems due to the kemo)and sent in the forms and havent heard from medicaid since.She gave me a stare like I just robbed a bank or something, withdrew her arm back with the meds, and did not want to give them to me, and I heard a sarcastic hmm, then she handed them to me.Sorry to dissapoint you Ruby, but I am a 40 yr.old man, myself and my family are respectable people.I dont know who you think you are Ruby, but you do the same thing as someone who works at Mcdonalds, so lose your stinkin attitude, and have a little compassion for others that are sick.By the way, this is not the first time I have put up with her little attitude problem.Last time my wife went without her meds for the weekend because Ruby did not look it up right on the computer.

I consider myself a patient person. I understand that sometimes things just don't go right, But every time I visit Walgreens there is some kind of problem, and they never offer to fix it or deal with it.

For instance last month I went in and wanted to refill my prescription. I had 1 more day left and no more refills. This wasn't their fault, it was mine for not calling it in sooner. But when I talked to the person behind the counter, he (the actual pharmacist mind you) told me I had no more refills and then said nothing more, he just looked at me. So I said, "Then call them so they will refill it." He looked at me with a blank look and said, "but you have no more refills"

I felt like knocking on his head, "anybody in there?" I knew it would take some time to call them and get it refilled, all he had o do was call them!!! So after a while he said, "fine I'll call them but I can't guarantee that it will be done today.

HELLO!!! I know that!!! But I left happy that he was going to call it in. 2 days go by (now just so you know this medication that I am now at this time, going without, is stuff that you can't lapse. ) So 2 days go by and I hear nothing back. I call the pharmacy and they said they had no such instructions and that I never asked to refill anything. Furiously I snap at them and then call my doctors and ask them to send in a refill because the pharmacy doesn’t know how to do their job, or to do what they say that they are going to do. SO IRRITATING! And immediately the prescription is refilled and I'm on my way.

Two days ago I called in my refills over their automatic teller, it was late at night, after hours. I already went without for a day, again my fault for not calling it in sooner. I schedule the pick up for the next morning an hour after they open. (this time I had refills) I didn't make it until 8 pm that night to pick them up, but no surprise, it wasn't ready, instead I'm told that they aren’t contracted with my insurance.

WHAT!?!? The woman behind the counter said "sorry, we're not contracted with your insurance"
so I say, "what do you mean? I've been using you for a long time and it's been just fine."
Then I get another blank stare. Hello?! are these employees all on drugs or something? I mean I know they have easy access! After a few minutes of arguing she passes the phone off to a man.

Now see my biggest issue at this point isn't just the fact that they don't want to work and that they keep screwing everything up, but that they didn't even have the prescription ready, they just assumed that because "they weren't contracted with my insurance" (which was a LIE - my insurance is TEAMSTERS!!! ) That I wouldn't want my NEEDED prescriptions, they assumed that I wouldn't pay full price to get them, I have to have them, I can't go without them!

So when they found a problem with my insurance or maybe they just didn't want to fill it, they didn't bother to call me and let me know, they just didn't bother at all. So I get there to pick it up, and it is after hours and there isn't anyone to contact.

Well the guy that was handed the phone was irritated, I could feel the anger coming through the drive through window. He took all of my insurance information (that they already had) and spent 30 minutes trying to figure it all out... He had told me that my insurance wasn't going through, the state insurance that I haven't been with in over 3 months. Someone deleted my current insurance. Maybe it was the pharmacist that I dealt with last month?!?!

So after an hour of waiting I was able to pay my small co-pay for my prescriptions and leave. If there is a problem they (In years past have called to let me know) Now it's like they don't care at all. I used to never have a problem with Walgreens, it wasn't even a question, and they were 100 times better than Wal-Mart! Now I'm just really disappointed because they are so angry to have to deal with anyone. Why do they work there if they don't want to help people? Oh yeah the easy drugs!... that wasn't nice of me, but they sure act like they are all taking them.

April 21, 2008

My name, address and telephone numbers are not for sale nor do you have my permission as a third party to sell these items.

On April 10, 2008 I used the automated attendant which I have used habitually and successfully for over three years to order refills of three prescripts and as per the prompts, I set the pick-up time at 2:00 PM the following day, April 11, 2008. I went to the pharmacy and was told by the clerk behind the pharmacy counter (not a pharmacist) that they had never heard of me and that I certainly hadn't used the automated attendant the night before to order refills of my prescriptions. I asked to see the pharmacist. She apologized profusely and filled my prescriptions in about 10 minutes.

On April 19, 2008 I used the automated attendant to order refills of an additonal three prescriptions. The pharmacist (not a clerk) who waited on me told me that I hadn't made such an order and that if I had it certainly would have been registered in thieir computer data base for prescriptions to be filled that day, April 20, 2008. She told me that they had had to fax one of my physicians to authorize refills as such refill authority for Allipurinol had expired and the physician had not responded to their fax. Then she told me that I had registered a pick-up for one day later, April 21. I had not. I had registered for pick-up with the automated attendant for the very day I showed up at the pharmacy, April 20, 2008, which was the next day after order the pick-up via the automated attendant. I know that to be true because choosing a prompt for any day with the automated attendant other than "tomorrow" triggers a series of inane questions which sounds like garble to the listener. That's why I always use the prompt for pick-up "tomorrow."

The pharmacist kindly and very courteously filled my other prescriptions as they had adequate refill authorization noted from my physician, apologized, again, and outlined the best protocol to check to see when my remaining prescription will have been filled. I thanked her and told her of my deep suspicions re the inadequacy or faultiness of that pharmacy's automated telephone attendant. As it was Sunday, she suggested that I return to register my comoplaint in person with the pharmacy staff members who work weekdays and with whom I am well-acquainted.

Alternatively, I decided to use this complaint process, too, as well as a[ealomg directly to the pharmacy staff with whom I'm personally acquainted. I'll do that when and if I get my last prescription filled.

Sincerely,

Maurice Conn

I have been a customer of Walgreens very several years. I will never go back again after my last experience. I was threated so rudely and shown no compassion and was given no options or resolutions to my problem. The Pharmacist name is Peter and the last time we spoke was on 6-10-07 @ 10:30 am. I had been experiencing severe pain after major surgery my doc called in hydrocodine for me on 6-7-07 was informed i couldn't have this medication until 6-10-07. When i asked why, i was told because i previously had prescription already filled and it was the to soon to fill another although my doctor call this in direct when i got home from the hospital. Peter was short and rude with me and said you cant have it cause its the law. Why didn't he offer another option as for to me follow up with my doc and request different medicine? Where is the customer service? I was treated as if I was a criminal asking for my pain medicine. I called Walgreens at 10:30 6-10-07 and Peter told me we just opened its going to be awhile yet I asked how long he said i dont know maybe a few more hours... This treatment is totally unacceptable if this is Walgreens Customer Service policy then i will not be a customer. You are treated like a number not a person and in this field there must be human compassion. I am not on Welfare, i have medical insurance why must i be treated as if I am second class citizen by a corporation that takes my business for granted.

Thank You, Donna Smith