CVS

Misplaced SSRI meds right before a weekend getaway, and was not aware of it until Friday 16th at 4:30 PM. I called CVS STR# 9721 on Friday to see if I could get a refill or some emergency pills to cover me until Monday 19th when I returned from my trip. The assistant that answered the phone was unhelpful, a bit rude and extreemly selfrighteous. Even though she stated FOUR TIMES that "it's a courtesy if we advance you a few pills" she never did. She kept telling me to call my doctor to request a refill. I explained that it's 4:30 PM on a Friday (Doctor is not going to answer), and that I was leaving for the weekend. The pharmacy assistant said that she sent a message to my doctor for a refill, but I learned on 3/19 that no message was sent. I had to leave on my trip with no meds.

* Full disclosure. I carry a week's worth of my medication with me in a pill box, and I noticed I needed to refill the box for the next week. I was short on time 3/16, so I just grabbed the SSRI bottle and put it in my purse thinking I'll refill my Rx box on my lunch break at work. I missed a dose on 3/14 and took a half dose on 3/15 (because that's all I had in the Rx box)
Needless to say I needed my [censor]ing medication, and not some petty pharmacy assistant acting like she is doing me a favor.

Which brings us to Monday 3/19. I call to see if my Rx is ready for pickup, and I'm told by a different assistant that little miss selfrighteous never sent a message to my doctor requesting a refill. Fantastic!

Message receive CVS! It is a slippery slope when you grant your pharmacy assistants the power to decline your customers medication without discussing it first with an educated, trained pharmacist whom has the capacity to understand medication withdrawal symptoms. Who oversees these assistants?! Who ensures ethical training to the assistants? I'm assuming it's a HIPPA violation to record the incoming phone calls, so again, who oversees the assistants to ensure they are acting in a ethical manner during their work shift?

Cont. Conversation 3/19
The assistant also told me that I just recently filled my lost medication... no [censor]
Then he tells me that my insurance will not cover a refill until May... (I'm sure everyone has had a moment when you heard something so dumb that you brain shuts off for a second, because it's trying to prevent you from retaining such stupidy.)

I actually had to explain to the assistant that even an insurance company has a contingency in the case that one of its customers LOST her SSRI medication. I had to explain what a SSRI is and what it is not! Then he tells me that I will need to make a police report!

[censor] you!

I just got done telling him what a SSRI is, and now he's spouting off the protocol for a lost controlled substance. My medication is not a controlled substance or an narcotic. I even dumbed it down and said that the medication does not make you feel good, doesn't get you high. It should not be treated like Xanax, Ativan or Vicodin. I explained to him that a police department is not going to make a police report because I lost my SSRI. My SSRI is not on the DEA schedule for controlled substances.
It is equivalent to making a police report over lost migraine medication. According to the assistant he was able to get approval from my insurance because he typed in "Lost Medication"

Why wasn't that done to begin with?
Hey CVS, your [censor] staff is requesting your customers to attempt to waste the time of their local police department because of their own incompetence. Train your staff!

I went to pickup my SSRI after work 3/19 about 1140PM. I was finishing up my transaction and conversation with the pharmacist when Mr. Police Report returned from his break. When the assistant returned he started helping another customer at the register next to me. He overheard a part of my conversation with the pharmacist, and invited himself to our conversation after the pharmacist just got done apologizing for the subpar customer service I received.

Hey CVS, your pharmacy assistant started a confrontation in front of other customers. He invited himself into a conversation that had ended, but he wanted to start it back up. He abruptly walked away from a customer that he was in the middle of "helping" to argue with another one. This assistant I have witnessed over this passed year repeadly act unprofessional, even tacky at times. Hes hard to miss. Hes the only ex-millitary, caucasian with a horrid bleached shaggy hair that works in this pharmacy.

The assistant walked over to the register that the pharmacist was using and went shoulder to shoulder, majorly leaning onto the pharmacist which in it self was inappropriate. The assistant had his body pressed up against the pharmacist to the extent that the pharmacist stepped back away from him for his own personal comfort. What Mr. Police Report overheard was me asking the pharmacist if it's protocol to request customers to make a police report for a lost SSRI. The pharmacist made a funny expression, and said no. He said, that a police report would be for a controlled substances, not the SSRI I just paid for. I said, so it is just further bad information I was given by untrained staff.

That is what upset Mr. Police Report, and why he started a confrontation with me in front of everyone. The assistant said, "I had to make a bunch of overrides to get you your prescription." I replied, "okay, and when you decided to type in the words Lost Medication it approved right away." His weak response was, "but I got you your medication" followed by a smug expression. The pharmacist walked away without saying a word.

Again, who oversees the pharmacy assistants to ensure they're ethical and professional? It can't be the store manger, because what do they know about the medical field or the ethical standards set for medical personnel. Not to overlook the laws and regulations surrounding pharmacy and prescriptions. Who ensures the assistants are working within their scope of practice?

My business will go to Walgreens (which is closer) at least I already know they run a tighter ship.

P.S. [censor] You CVS Pharmacy

Received a text from CVS that my son's prescription was ready. So since I was in the neighborhood anyway, I stopped by there to pick it up.There must have been like 8 people working in that pharmacy, but only ONE waiting on customers. Waiting customers were backed up halfway to the front of the store.There were at least half a dozen employees looking at computer screens back there. I waited and waited and waited to get to the counter, and every time it was my turn they would call the name of somebody who was already there waiting for God only knows how long, and I would lose my place.
Finally, I and two other people just walked out. What an absolute joke! My son has to get his prescriptions through CVS because he is on Medicaid, and they made us switch him from Walgreens to CVS or else they wouldn't cover his prescriptions. Talk about some ridiculous managing of resources! Like other people have said on here, the ones looking at computer screens absolutely would not look up!

Well, I found my doctor sent my prescription to the CVS pharmacy out on Shaw and Palm. I had never asked them to send my prescription there. They always sent my prescriptions to the one on Fresno and Shaw but this time apparently it went out to Shaw and Palm.

That CVS closes at 7 so I called and the CVS at Palm and Shaw promised to send my prescriptions back to the CVS on Shaw and Fresno as they should have been. The lady in the pharmacy promised she would have that sent over within five minutes.

On her promise, I returned to the CVS pharmacy on Fresno and Shaw again, and this one is a 24 hour pharmacy. The gentleman at the drive up window said he could see the prescription in the system, but it was still at the other CVS pharmacy. He offered to call the other pharmacy, but there was no answer. I called and there was no answer. He suggested I call my doctor back and get her to resend the prescription to this pharmacy. So, I called and got the exchange for Valley Health Team, and the lady called the doctor on call. Unfortunately, he did not have his computer with him and could not put through the prescription to the correct pharmacy. Another person was shrugging and saying, "There's nothing we can do".

Bull excrement. If a company cannot correct its own mistakes or have any provisions for doing so, I find it hard to think well of that company.
Mistakes are fine. Everyone makes them. And I have to say that most of the people involved from both companies were quite nice. They just did not seem to have any options at their disposal for correcting problems and meeting the needs of their patients.

My brother in law has worked as a CEO of several clinics of various types and is currently a professor teaching others to do likewise. I am almost certain if we mentioned this issue to him he would go through the roof and make things happen. I can be quite pushy, but I don't seem to carry the weight that my brother in law carries. I should take lessons from him. But I get the feeling he would take the bull by the horns and solve my problems for me, and that's not really what I would want. It would be nice for the immediate problem, but I'd rather learn to push these things through and make things happen myself. But whether I'm nice or whether I am a first class grouch, I don't seem to be able to get what's right to happen. Perhaps studying my law school materials or going to law school would help, but I am not even sure of that.

I had my doctor forward my prescriptions for my heart meds to CVS, and initially I was happy to be able to pick them up at a drive-through.
However, and it is a BIG however, I went to the doctor today who, after testing me, found I had an overactive thyroid and diabetes, and she had my prescriptions sent to the CVS here in Fresno at Fresno and Shaw at my request.

My phone alerted me that the prescriptions had been filled and I could pick them up.
So, I went and there were three or four cars ahead of me. The time it took for the first car to be processed was more than I would have expected for all of us. Same with the second car and so on until I arrived at the window perhaps twenty or thirty minutes later. There were no prescriptions for me. I insisted I was notified by their system, and when I pulled up the messages on my phone, I noticed a different CVS address, I asked if she could check and she said I would have to leave the line and call them at the other location myself.

I tried. I was left on hold seemingly forever and the phone was almost out of charge. I called back and was asked if I could hold and I said the phone was out of a charge and she said there were two ahead of me and hung up. Livid, I went into the store and the line was backed up inside and going as slow as molasses so I stomped out and must not have looked very happy, though the person at the counter near the exit told me to have a good day almost apologetically.

Nice experience. not.

I just had a bad experience with CVS that met with a great experience when I addressed it with the store manager. IMHO Great customer service is not about doing everything right all the time but quickly righting poor customer service in a prompt and courteous fashion. Always make sure to give your feedback to management. It should never have to be this way, I understand, but it helps to give feedback and is just the right thing to do. If we were all perfect there would never be a customer service problem. Fact is that we are not all perfect and oddly enough none of us knows what's happening in the day of that person that didn't give us the best customer service. Kindness and tolerance of others will never get you a bad report card "upstairs."

I've had bad experiences with CVS customer service as well. I was waiting to drop off my prescription at the drop off window, which takes literally 5 seconds, there were two people in the back working, one at the computer within 5 feet of me, and no other customers. I made eye contact with at least two of them, so they were aware that I was waiting, but they did not even acknowledge my presence. I wouldn't have minded if they had said "we will be with you in a minute" or something along those lines. After 3-4 minutes of standing I just left. Headed off to Walgreens. I was helped immediately. The prices might be higher at Walgreens but I'd pay whatever it takes to knock CVS down from their throne. I will never go there again.

Unfortunately only the pharmacist can answer any questions you have, technicians can't even tell you to take tylenol for headaches because of state and federal laws. I would suggest you complain to the pharmacy supervisor since that is part of the pharmacists job is to give consultation when needed. Sorry you had such a bad experience.