Walgreens

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:[protected] 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

Walgreens makes up the rules as they go along. Concerning It is policy not to fill controlled substances more than 2 days early, Walgreens told me every 29 days at next refill waited 29 days only to be told it was now 30 days and the d.e.a was cracking down on filling controlled substances every 29 days. I aked why did you inform me every 29 days and now you say every 30 days. Walgreens pharmacy went from the D.E.A. to they had a meeting back in 2010 of every 30 days, although the pharmacy manager could not confirm there was ever a meeting. I asked to see a copy of this policy and the D.E.A. notice Walgreens has on file and they not could supply either. I asked if this was policy from 2010 why was Walgreens refilling every rx 29 days and they refilled over and over for the same 2 medications over the past 5 months every 29 days and one was filled on 29 days by pharmacy manager on day 29 and 10 days later different med to have refill they go into 30 day mode.Walgreens is dishonest with their customers.They make up their own up excuses on spot and do not care if they must lie or mislead the customer. My rx's are from the same Dr and from same office walgreens has refilled these same meds for 11 years. I am fed up with walgreens never being able to know what to next expect on the next refill date.If you call different walgreens asking what their policy is, they all told me 29 days. As far as overdosing, does walgreens actually think one day early will result in an overdose ? Be you wait 29 or 30 days, what is walgreens thinking when you pick up the new rx that you are good for 29 days after day 29 you are considered at risk for overdose, when any overdose would more likely happen after you get a refill not 1 or 2 days before time to refill.(To wrap this up, you should always know as much about your prescription insurance and your medication as possible.)What a shame when you have to return to walgreens you have to spend all your time explaining to them what your entire rx drug plan is, for they did not retain your information the first time or put in your file and you must explain all this in great detail each month, provide this same information to walgreens, all from they cannot keep records of what your drug plan is. No wonder Walgreens is losing more customers than they are gaining. The customer can never have a positive experience with walgreens, when they lie and mislead customers and every employee has a different story.

"I called and this has happened many times to get my refills and it goes through on my insurance but the ALL MIGHTY pharmacist says I can't have it. I have call my insurance company and they too have filed a complaint against Wal-Greens. I will do everything in my power to get rid of this pharmacist his job has gone to his head and he thinks he can control what people can get even if their insurance gives them the permission to fill it"

It is policy not to fill controlled substances more than 2 days early .In some states, it is monitored legally. This is to prevent abusers from doctor shopping and selling them, etc, etc, and overdosing. If you are using them properly, this shouldn't be a problem in most cases.

I am a pharmacy Technician with Walgreens. It is not our prerogative (at least at my store) to take a customers medicine. Anyone caught stealing medicine at all will be investigated and their license will be suspended and most likely revoked. In the state of Oklahoma our pharmacy board actually emails a listing of people who have been rewarded and those who have been punished and why. And on a logical note if anyone ever decided to steal medication it wouldn't be from a customer. Almost all technicians and Pharmacists are aware that customers prescriptions are always tracked and monitored. Its to easy to be tracked to make it worth anyone's time to steal from a customer.

Secondly In oklahoma there are specific restrictions on CII through CV( controlled substances)

1. All prescriptions that are controlled must have the license number of the person dropping the prescription off.
A few tips when following this law
#1 you do not have to be the patient to drop the prescription off.
#2 if you do not have your drivers license with you that is OK. You can provide the employee with any form of STATE ISSUED ID with a PHOTO of you on it. (military, state ids, Indian reservation ids with a photo on it. )
#3 if you provide any form of fake identification Walgreens reserves the right to withhold your identification and prescription until verification of both are confirmed, all forms of fake identification are considered a felony.
#4 always have in date identification. If we notice that your id is expired we cannot use it toward your controlled prescription.
#5 finally we cannot fill OR SELL a controlled substance until we are presented with identification.

When you drop off CII prescriptions remember that we can only fill the whole amount of the prescription or fill it for only what we have available. This means that when you drop it off and we don't have enough we will wait and ask if you want to only get the amount we have on hand and the remaining amount of the prescription will be voided. Also remember that if you do only receive the partial amount have the pharmacist inform your doctor. The doctor still has the discretion to give you a new prescription for the remainder or not. To make this even more complicated most insurance companies will charge you a second full copay for the remaining amount written by the doctor.

#1 Always talk to your doctor about the availability of your CII prescription because this could indirectly affected your therapy.
#2 Call ahead of time to the pharmacy about the medication. Walgreens normally will not reserve your amount of a CII so don't wait very long after calling.
#3 We can never take any CII prescriptions without the doctors national physicians identification number or DEA. Always make sure they have written it on the prescription.

finally on all controlled substance EARLY refills, as a pharmacy do have a small amount of discretion when it comes to the release of the medication. Most often though we will contact the doctor to verify an early refill.
tips to avoid this problem
#1 always follow the correct therapy of your prescription and if your dosage has change by the consent of your doctor always tell the pharmacy this, because we can save a lot of time and money for you if we know this (not all doctors make it apparent that dosage has changed).
#2 some doctors will write a dosage like "every 4 to 6 hours" remember that the maximum amount suggested by the doctor is what we follow when it come to early fills, for example: Lortab filled on 09/20/09 for 24 tablets and a dosage of 1 tablets by mouth every 4 to 6 hours. This prescription is recommended to be taken up to 6 times a day when in truth it can be taken to a FDA approved maximum of 8 tabs a day. if you take it 8 times a day you will run out on 09/24/09 were as if you used to as suggested a maximum of 6 times a day it will be completed on 09/26/09. Pay close attention to each and every bottle you receive. Even if you have had the medication in the past your doctor may have changed the way he wants you to take it.
#3 NEVER FILL YOUR CONTROL SUBSTANCES ON THE WEEKEND. If you can avoid filling anything new on the weekend it is always beneficial because doctors will not always have an on call phone number listed or provided so if there is a issue with early refill, dosage change, missing information, we wont be able to fix it 90% of the time on the weekend.
#4 finally, always know when your insurance company will pay for your refills. Prescription insurance is not the same as health insurance, it is very fast paced and in the present. If they have a policy about dosages and safe recommend use they will always question it.

To wrap this up, you should always know as much about your prescription insurance and your medication as possible. It is often very difficult to be focused on the importance of the medications and coverages when you are ill. Do your best to help yourself while we help you.

I have just pulled all my prescriptions from Wal-Greens. I have been trading there for years and have made many complaints to the manager and I am NOT the only one in Enterprise, AL that has done this. I called and this has happened many times to get my refills and it goes through on my insurance but the ALL MIGHTY pharmacist says I can't have it. I have call my insurance company and they too have filed a complaint against Wal-Greens. I will do everything in my power to get rid of this pharmacist his job has gone to his head and he thinks he can control what people can get even if their insurance gives them the permission to fill it. You can count on me and LOTS of others taking our business elsewhere. It's not like we are hurting for Pharmacy in this area.

I have also felt like that the workers in the pharmacy are stealing the meds from the patients and when we count the pills right there in front of them before I leave and find missing ones they get ugly. Maybe you need to be keeping an eye your employees and stop treating your customers like crap and that we are wrong. WHAT EVER HAPPENED THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!

I work for Walgreen's and can honestly say I have been short with customers which I do apologize for. There are certain things you have to realize when billing insurance. First off every drug has an NDC number and this number is going to be different even though you may be getting Zyrtec, it depends on the manufacturer. Also we do our billing electronically where we send the claim to the insurance and they send back the copay for the patient. I have seen many a time where they send us one claim and then when the customer complains to the insurance company the fix whatever is wrong in their database. Also when you come in and we ask you if you have new insurance please make sure you give us your most current card. I have had so many cases where the customer gives an old card and I ask is this your most current card and they say yes, so I spend a good 15 minutes on the phone finding out they now have Navatis for example. When I then inform the patient that they have Navatis their like you mean this card! It gets quite irritating and when you have a bunch of these in a day it kind of puts you in a crappy mood. What I recommend is if your nice to me I'm nice to you, don't need to threaten me scream at me and give me attitude cause all it does is make me care less about the customer. Also once we sell you something we can not take it back so check things before you pick them up. If you feel like your shorted talk to the pharmacist and have them put a double count note on your file, a lot of stores have automatic counters which are not always perfect. I understand that poor service is frustrating but what you don't see is the employees crying in the back because they are always being treated like crap.

Some tips for going to the pharmacy
1.) Make sure to have your currant insurance information. If your waiting for a card get the BIN number, Group#, and your ID#.
2.) If its a CII medication have them check to make sure they have it in stock first. My store always does if they are aware it is a CII but some of the newbies aren't full aware of the controlled meds.
3.) Be patient the process does take time its more than just putting a label on a bottle
4.) Double check the med before you leave the store. You can always purchase it and stay near the counter to look it over and if there are any issues bring it up right away. It is policy not to take things back once they leave the store.
5.) Walgreen's has a 7 day window to do re-billing so if you pay cash for a med and can get the info within 7 days of the date filled we can do a re-bill. Otherwise you may need to submit it to your insurance company.
6.) If you feel like the person ringing you up may be having a bad day and is being rude, try to be overly nice. I know for me it kind of slaps me back and brings me back to my normal self. (Walgreen's times its customers on everything so though you may only think we are their to ring up we are actually being timed and graded, and now that Walgreen's is cutting hours we are having less people to do the same amount of work witch does get stressful).
7.) Finally as far as bringing back the store merchandise, we are never informed of whats on sale and what is not. so if their is a sale sticker on the shelf make sure to read it fully, some will print out what they call register rewards which are like getting it for the sale price. Others you may need to have the coupon book for which should be in the front of the store.

I am very sorry that happened to you.

There are a lot of fake prescriptions out there for pain medicine such as the one you had requested. To prevent dangerous medicine from falling into the wrong hands, the law limits a Pharmacist's ability to dispense those kinds of medication. If he had dispensed the medication against the law - even if it meant that he as a health care provider was doing the best thing for you - he could easily lose his license.

I have to agree with you that he should have offered some alternative, but again ... the laws greatly limit his ability to offer you a solution. Sometimes it's better to speak to a Pharmacy Manager, and specifically ask what your options are.

I hope you don't experience this problem again, and I do wish you the best and hope you'll consider returning to Walgreens at some point. I certainly understand your choosing not to!

In picking up prescriptions for a disabled person, Walgreens, Scotts Valley, CA regularly tells me that Zyrtec in not covered by her insurance because it is OTC. I have explained many times that it is covered and to please check the insurance. They have regularly overcharged on the copay and then the manager (Mandy) accused me of lying when I told her how much of a copay I was quoted. She refused to listen to the information I was trying to give her to process the claim including the correct NDC code. I had to find the Walgreens fax number and fax the info to them because the manager told me she would not listen to me. I got some help from the district manager Brett Stark a few months ago, but this time, he did not even bother to make personal contact with me even though made multiple calls to him and I left my cell number.

Walgreens 9550 hageman Drive Bakersfield, CA 93312 tel [protected] rx# [protected] hydrocodone / apap 5mg/500mg
On 7/18/08 at 12:35pm, I went through the drive-thru window to pick up a refill of medication. When the clerk handed me the bottle, I noticed right away that it was not completely full. I immediately opened the bottle and counted the pills before leaving. There were only 23 pills in the bottle even though there should have been 60. I paid cash $33.99 for 60 pills. I gave the bottle back to the clerk who told me that it was full when she handed it to me. I went into the store and spoke to 5 employees, two of which claimed to be managers, who all told me that I must be lying, that I must have stolen the pills and now I was just trying to get more. One employee said (who claimed to be a manager) that if I wanted to give the pills back to her I could but she would not refund my money. I was told that they would call the police if I didn't leave. Because the medication was vicodin, they claimed there is no way that a mistake was made. Obviously, a mistake was made or a Walgreens employee stole part of my medication. I have filed a formal complaint with the Sacramento Board of Pharmacy, the local police department, DEA and have tried to speak with Walgreens but walgreens will not help me. I tried calling back and getting more information. I spoke to Cindy Stevens, who was EXTREMELY rude and hung up on me. I want my money back or my prescription filled. I also want my prescriptions moved to a different pharmacy.

I called in "REFILLS" for two of my mdications. One a heart medication and the othr an antibiotic. When my husband wentto pick my order, Walgreens told him that the two medications I have bee taking for the last month did not work well together. I have a lot of allergies, I inquired what was the problem, all they could say they interact. I became a little more inquisitive and I got repeated questions like:
Were these two new medications, answer NO they are refills. Pharmacist said I don't see these two here are they new AGAIN NO! I gave her the two RX #'s and then she found them. Even after she found them she asked did you have these filled somewhere else. I received a call from my Dr this AM Walgreens called him, when he called he became upset with me (He's my DR-concern on his part) Didn't you start taking the antibiotic yet. I had to explain the whole problem again. I want to ask where does their claim that Walgreens finds these chance of interactions? I am chamging Phrmacies just becaus it is easier for my Dr to fax a Script to WALLY WORLD, doesn't mean we get the bestservice.