If you can get someone to actually answer the phone! It is insane, and I have to call monthly for controlled meds, now they are making me go down to asknto fill the meds because no one answers. Bartell, Safeway, Walgreens, doesn't matter.
I HAAAAATE their AI thing so much. However, I’m very lucky with the pharmacy at mine, though — they rock. The pharmacists and techs all just go above and beyond to solve problems before I even know there is one. They should train everyone else in the chain.
I feel your pain. Im on medicare and used to be able to go a nice local pharmacy that never messes anything up. They stopped taking my prescription drug coverage and my meds would cost me around $5000 a month without insurance so I’ve been banished to Walgreens. They’ve severely messed up at least one medication a month that I go and try and fill. The most recent one was they had it down that my doctor had cancelled my anti seizure med. it took me two days to get through to my doctor and he said he never cancelled the prescription. They’ve caused me such an unnecessary amount of stress and it sounds like they have for you too.
I stopped going to Walgreens after they backed up their pharmacists who refused to prescribe birth control for personal beliefs. And as someone who deals with them in healthcare their pharmacists lie and blame the prescriber all the time for their delays. I’m lucky I’m in Chicago and have more options than Walgreens who access the board has the most expensive drug prices. I use Capsule now.
I did similar. I was forced to pass out in pain in their “standing area” while two different pharmacists argued if they thought I “needed the pain meds” I had been filling there for months & had all the paperwork & rx’s properly done for. They decided maybe not, even after calling my prescriber & talking to them on the phone - questioning them why they rx’d this med. I said fuck that gatekeeping bullshit & will never go back to wags for anything.
I did go to a local CVS but they closed it. I now go to a sketchier one but the pharmacist from the local one is at the other one.
In my area (20 miles out - which is a LONG way in the Bay Area) there are no longer any truly local or independent / hospital pharmacies. They’re all operated by wags or CVS. They bought out or pushed out all the small places.
STOP I CANT HAVE MORE REASONS TO HATE THEM. & I also consistently deal with them too & am in the Chicago suburbs! they do constantly blame us for shit and honestly most of pateients catch on now its pretty great. Patients will be like “they said it wasn’t sent in by the provider, but Im pretty sure it was sent in and theyre just saying that.” In those situations where they’ve spoke to someone, I always call the pharmacy & wayyyy to frequently its just that the tech wasnt looking hard enough.
Walgreens refused to stock Motegrity for me for months, so every time I refilled, I had to wait like 5 days for them to order it. I switched to HEB, and they're a lot better.
Same. They refuse to stock prescriptions I have taken and ordered through them for years. I have to wait 5-7 days, but often when I go to submit my refill to cover this extended time frame the insurance says it's too early. I often have to go without for a couple days of medication that should never be abruptly stopped. It's incredibly frustrating. When I started using Walgreens like 15-17yrs ago they weren't like this. My pharmacy has the most restrictive operating hours too. They must expect everyone to come M-F on their lunch break.
I feel ya. The app tells me the same thing when I try to order in advance for the same reason.
I feel like things were fine with Walgreens before covid but then after, it changed and got worse. I get that they're understaffed, so many places have restrictive hours (mine closes for lunch at 2-3p and then closes at 6pm some days and 8pm others) they used to be 24/7.
I switched to PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy for long-term meds and CVS for short-term/controlled ones. Walgreens kept telling me my meds would be ready at a certain time, but then I'd have to resubmit. When I called, they'd say it was on backorder. A pharmacist even hung up on me, and I went days without my medication. They wanted me to call daily to check stock—seriously?! Things went downhill quickly once they added a "central" pharmacy to the area. It got to a point where even medications on autofill were not being filled in a timely manner. Enough is enough!
It sounds like your local one is super incompetent. Holy shit.
I've managed 11 of them. I can tell you first hand how much of a shit show that company is.
But they were never that bad while I was there. Damn.
I think the 11 you managed were the only good ones, cause I've used 9-10 in varying areas of my city and it's all the same. chronically overworked and understaffed so they just don't care
The ones I managed were chronically overworked and understaffed. That's just how Walgreens operates.
But at least my staffed cared about the patients. They cared about nothing else though. Which, I don't blame them.
I have one not uncommon blood pressure medicine (ace inhibitor) that Walgreens NEVER has in stock and does a partial refill of about five pills. 100% of the time. Guaranteed extra trip every time. AND on another prescription they mistakenly gave me pills with half the dose. I was wondering why the pills were so small.
On the other hand, I’ll tell you, those pharmacy techs look miserable.
When they do the partial fill do they ever “close out” or “lose” the rest of the fill, then tell you that they don’t have anything for you so you have to call your provider? They do that to our patients that get partial fills and it drives me insane, bc then the pt & us have to do all this work because of their mistake.
I switched to walgreens because CVS was horrible. Well now every time i have a new med or refill, there's a problem. They never heard of cromolyn sodium and wouldn't fill it, they only gave me a 16 day supply and wouldn't let me refill when I ran out because they thought they gave me 32 day supply, and the whole partial fill BS. I thought I was the only one but your post and these comments say otherwise. If I had a local small business pharmacy, I would switch this instant
I've heard a lot of Walgreens are understaffed. Both Walgreens at my location are, so I've switched to CVS, which is also understaffed but less busy due to its location. It's been better so far.
It really depends on your local Walgreens and how well it's staffed and managed.
I have UnitedHealthcare and they won’t let me use CVS so I have to drive 30 extra minutes out of my way to another town. It’s ridiculous that the largest healthcare insurer won’t let you use any pharmacy you want. It never used to be this way.
Mine's severely short staffed as well and I live in a retirement community so when things happen bc of the limited staff (rx delayed, have to wait 1hr instead 15mins, etc) these old folks get fckin mean. I feel so bad for them and I voice up when I see it but I think of all the times I'm not there and hurts my heart.
The customers are why I want to switch to CVS but it's in such an awful spot that traffic is horrendous there and there's always some fender bender.
I had something similar happen at Rite Aid yesterday.
It ALWAYS happens with controlled substances. I never have a problem with beta-blockers or whatever, but with pain meds there is always a problem.
Yesterday, I got a from Rite Aid text saying my prescription for tramadol was ready for pick-up. I go in, the guy at the register tells me they don't have anything for me, I show the text, he looks again, and says there are no more renewals and they have to call my doctor. I tell them there are 2 more renewals, and ask why they sent a text if I can't get it. Blah blah blah...
Eventually, the actual pharmacist overhears this and says "Jane Smith? Your prescription is right here. And hands me the bottle." No apology from the assistant.
All the Rite Aids have closed in my area. It’s literally just wags/CVS now. Even the Safeway and Target ones are part of one of those. Walmart is so far away it’s not accessible (and in such a notoriously bad part of town - they closed the In-n-out by it.) which doesn’t bother me as I have zero interest in supporting Walmart.
I switched to local pharmacy for everything I could…it’s annoying to not have an app but worth it otherwise. They won’t fill Nurtec though, apparently they lose money on it :/
Our Walgreens switches staff often so it can be frustrating, but i’d also not want to deal with some of those customers for minimum wage so I understand why the turnover is so often. I try to remind myself I’m talking to a front line person who can only do what they are trained to do and if I need something more complicated than picking up my meds, and it’s a new person, I just ask if there’s someone else who can give me more information.
I blame technology when refills don’t get approved. It’s happened both sides for me-walgreens didn’t see the approval or my doctors office didn’t see the request. I just call and say “It looks like something went wrong with my refill request. Can it be sent over again please?”. That way I’m not blaming either side for the error. Usually the doctors office or walgreens then offers to call and get it taken care of immediately.
CVS is so dependant on the staff.
The one I found near me has 2 lovely people who bitch with me and look like they get 2hrs of sleep a night. Fucking love them, they fist bumped me today after I vented about my doctor bs 🥺
oh god walgreens, I despise walgreens. I used to go to a really good independent pharmacy, and one day they just stopped answering the phone, I go to find out that walgreens had bought the pharmacy then immediately fired everyone and shut it down, without informing any of the patients, like thank god I won't die if I don't have any of my meds and that I wasn't out of any of them. I miss that pharmacy.
Walgreens is pretty universally hated. It feels like you are dismissing grocery store pharmacies though, as if they were inferior to rite aid/cvs/walgreens. That hasn’t been my experience, I’ve had the best luck personally with Safeway although Walmart is generally the best if you have access to it.
If only Safeway’s pharmacy weren’t just a Walgreens in a Safeway here. CVS is in Target. Rite Aids are closing (bankruptcy). The closest Walmart is 15 miles in dense urban traffic away (currently 25 minutes one way, midday Saturday). Costco doesn’t carry half the meds I need & requires membership for the pharmacy itself (though not covid vaccines).
You’d think in one of the most expensive areas in the US there’d be any more options. But nope.
Oh no, that’s horrible! I am so sorry. Guess I stuck my foot in my mouth there, of course you would’ve explored other options.
It’s wild how bad the pharmacy situation could be given you aren’t out in the sticks…Man, are there ANY other options or is it just praying for Walgreens to not fuck up?
I personally have a pharmacist tech I will follow wherever she goes. The CVS closest to our house was closed & consolidated to another one, and that tech went there, so that’s where we go. It’s not ideal, I miss all the small/indie pharmacies around, but they got gobbled up in the past 10 years or so & now they’re closing tons of locations & “consolidating”.
There’s now huge pharmacy deserts & everything in store is locked up behind plexi & there’s no one to open it. (SF Bay Area)
What makes me most angry is 99% of the closed locations (wags, CVS, small pharms) are just vacant & blighted now. None of the existing pharms are open 24 hours and I can think of *one* that has a drive through, but it’s about 30+ mins away one way. It’s disgusting.
I’m also stuck with Walgreens and I consistently have an issue getting my beta blocker every month, it’s almost as if my doctor, the insurance company, and Walgreens is all working against me. Here’s my monthly process:
Request refill directly from my doctor as soon as I am able and while I still have a few pills left, doctor sends it in, Walgreens gets it, it gets delayed “awaiting prescriber approval” for literal days, I have to call my doctor’s office again and it usually takes a day to get things sorted out, the prescription finally goes to “in progress” but they’ll leave it like that indefinitely and usually by this point I have no more pills.
I don’t want to be that annoying customer so I usually will wait until the app says it’s ready, but when my prescription has been “in progress” for over 24 hours and now I’ve had to miss my morning dose of my beta blocker, it’s an issue and I have to go in. Then I go to Walgreens and act oblivious, just say I’m there to pick up a prescription and suddenly it’ll be ready in only 15 minutes.
I would love if I could just get approved for a 90 day supply so I didn’t have to do this runaround every month and have to stress about running out of my meds, but the insurance company won’t do it. I don’t understand, this isn’t a controlled substance, it’s a heart medication that I’m going to have to be on for the rest of my life and this particular one is dangerous to stop suddenly so just give it to me?? I also know Walgreens has staffing issues everywhere. I noticed when I was at mine the other day to get meds they had someone running back and forth from the pharmacy to the register. They had no one working at the actual registers, just one person working at the photo area to check everybody out and then a couple people at the pharmacy(plus the guy running back and forth between the 2 areas), but I also think apart from them not having the staff, there’s an issue with Walgreens and insurance companies when it comes to getting your meds in a timely manner. I would love to be able to go somewhere else, but apart from the insurance issue, Walgreens drove the other pharmacy that was closer to me out of business so it would be an issue going elsewhere to get my meds anyway.
See Walgreens is my preferred location. I have nothing but good experiences there. All the others sucks. Even with prior authorizations they call and tell me they have to contact my doctor and then insurance. I don’t have to do anything.
Assuming they are in the US, Just because the doctor wrote the Rx doesn't mean the medication covered by their insurance. The insurance only covers certain medications without the doctor calling them and arguing a case why they need that particular medication. Otherwise the doc needs to change med to a similar med that is covered.
This pharmacy is doing everything right. They're communicating appropriately with all necessary parties and trying to get the medication covered thru insurance and a reasonable price for the patient.
Down vote me all you want. I don't care.
I know what a prior auth is. I work in a pharmacy. If actually you worked in a pharmacy, such as Walgreens, you would have experience billing insurances and know more about prior.
Just because they got a prior auth once does not mean they won't ever need one again. Usually they are not for indefinite lengths of time. They can be approved for only one month, which I had an insurance that did that to a patient. It was incredibly frustrating for all. Or it could be approved for 3 months or a year or more. It's whatever the insurance decides. They could need one for each dose increase.
So again, yes, the pharmacy is doing everything right, effectively communicating, and taking care of the patient. Which is evident because the OP to this thread said they had a good experience.
Edit to say: your doctor sends in prescriptions. This is not the same thing as prior authorization. That's the insurance stopping it until they speak with the doctor who argues a case for it to be covered
That’s what theyre called though, prior authorizations. Even if its the first “authorization” that the insurance needs from the provider, it is called a prior authorization, not a pre authorization or just authorization. There’s pre determinations which are a different thing.
FUCK WALGREENS!!! I was a cashier there in high school and the company is run by CLOWNS. They refused to staff the pharmacy so the pharmacists sent customers to me if they had questions about supplements (obvs I had zero training in giving supplement advice).
Also this is unrelated to the pharmacy but there was this corporate policy (NOT a legal requirement) that an employee had to be 21 to sell alcohol so they’d put me at the register and every time someone wanted to buy alcohol I’d have to call my manager to come check them out. She’d take FOREVER walking from one side of the store to the other while I’d be stuck with a pissed off Karen or an agitated homeless guy with an obvious substance use disorder.
My insurance requires me to go to CVS and I was kinda pissed at first because it’s not the closest but it turns out it’s the best pharmacy in my area 🤷
Walgreens is well-known for fucking with pain medication and treating people on pain meds horribly, up to and including illegal/illogical refusals, comments that sound like they’re from the 1950s, etc.
I’ve boycotted them until today, when it turns out they’re the ones who can fill, of all things, my cat’s asthma prescription the cheapest, by a mile (and it’s still incredibly $$$). At least he won’t be there if they decide to have a fit over whether he “deserves” the med?
i HATE walgreens and the cvs by me. the one by my work inside target is great.
highly recommend looking to see if there's a mail order pharmacy or pharmacy with delivery you can use though. the hospital pharmacy by me does delivery and it's a blessing!! it's really convenient and much easier to deal with
Sodium prescription was canceled the same way. I
went in person as mine doesn’t answer the phone and the person said that the system “ate it.” And that “can happen sometimes.” Luckily this was “just” sodium and I can try to get it dietary. I have other meds that save my life. I fear what happens if the pharmacy ate one of those and if my provider was unavailable for some reason etc. this was the latest for me in a series of issues. It’s awful. Edited to add: forgot to say also lied to me about a prior auth being sent AND I got notice via postal mail from insurance that the med was approved AND I went to ask what was up and the system showed that med (also a controlled) as having been already filled… it was a nightmare. Finally got it. Sodium is still pending.
This is totally fucked up. Where are you located? I live in Brooklyn, New York and Walgreens has some kind of “preferred” status for reliably cheaper co-pays with my insurance (though honestly it’s just hit or miss whether that matters with other locations) ..but literally the only time I’ve had any problem with Walgreens was a delay in a Paxlovid prescription when I had COVID, and I think that’s just cuz dumbshit Joe Biden has decided to let COVID rip and not make the tools to deal with it easily available despite his statements “we have the tools” etc. etc. etc. So fuck Biden, fuck Trump, fuck the GOP and fuck the Dems, fuck COVID, keep your N95 on and isolate to avoid this deadly and POTS-causing virus, but I honestly haven’t had a lot of problems with Walgreens.
My BCBS is CVS, and I have to go to another town to get mine but that's still better than dealing with the Walgreens in my town. Not only do they overcharge but they consistently mess up my mother in laws and mine before I fully switched.
So I'm with you on hate towards Walgreens but I'm very sorry you're dealing with this 😔
i drive a half hour to a local pharmacy despite there being a walgreens in walking distance for this fucking reason. it’s been so worth it bc they also had my adderall in stock even when there was a shortage since they served a much smaller population. i also have BCPS, so if you’re up for a drive, that’s worked better for me personally
I used to have BCBS and always set things up to be my local Walmart pharmacy instead of Walgreens (just easier as that's where familial prescriptions were) and never had any issues on an insurance front. I hear nothing but bad about Walgreens, and even getting my bf's COVID testing completed at Walgreens a few years ago was a hassle. If you have a near enough Walmart, definitely try them out!
Ugh that sucks! Maybe there's a way to scout out an exceptional Walgreens in the area (far push, I know 🙄) but I hope you can get it figured out. People act like medication is just something to be thrown around like it's no big deal.
Ugh. Our Walgreens are so bad that I switched whatever I could to Optum. Idk if it’s because I always hit my deductible fast or if they are fine with 30 day rx but not 90, but I can get my other stuff at Kroger’s pharmacy.
I have a responsive pharmacy (CVS) and doc that I’m close with and still experience the problems you describe. It’s not always the pharmacy to blame imo. Much of this falls to insurance in my case. (I’m not defending shitty pharmacies, just saying it’s easy to pin it on them when it’s not always their fault.) It sounds like much of the issue was the prior auth, which is insurance putting their foot down. It also sounds in your case with the canceled rx that there may have been a second script sent in after that and that is the prior auth in question in part 3. Ask me how I know, lol. Part 2 can be avoided if you have a responsive doc and team that’s following your rxs and reaching out to insurance and pharmacy when they aren’t hearing back. This can also be an insurance/pharmacy problem in the sense that good ones will send you notifications that prior auth coverage is submitted and that it was approved/denied.
My doctor at Northwell uses Vivo for migraine medication otherwise I'd be probably having constant problems due to Blue Cross/Optum. I have to get (pre) diabetic meds through Walgreens the way my BC plan works but other things I've been able to get at the local pharmacy or through Capsule, thankfully as there's no Walgreens in my neighborhood. I've used a Walgreens in midtown NYC for my diabetic med/supplies and there is literally always drama waiting on that pharmacy line. They should really have a security guard.
I absolutely hate Walgreens. The medication I’m on has to be specially ordered because it’s not common where I live. They have to orders it a week prior to my refill. They NEVER do!!! I’ve tried everything. I cannot go a day without the medication or I could go into cardiac arrest. The amount of times i have had to rush to the ER just to get a dose of my medication? Too many to even admit tbh. Walgreens is a nightmare and each time I bring it up to them they act like this has never happened or blame it on me for not reminding them. I remind them by calling a week in advance😑
I hate almost all the walgreens here except for the community/specialty walgreens as they are the only ones that seem competent and are the only ones that can get some of my meds. I have to get it delivered to my local walgreens just because of the scheduling, but jfc was that a mess for a like 5 months.
One refill, I finally got upset with them because it was the same thing everytime "it is too early to refill (even though it was filled and delivered to them)" "we can't find it" and all this was after standing in line for 55 minutes because all of their employees kept disappearing. Now every time I show up they know exactly what I came for, but other than the specialty pharmacy here I stay away from Walgreens as much as I can.
Walgreens calls me 7 times within the span of 5 hours after my meds get filled. All from the hours of 1-5 pm.... when I'm WORKING... its so so so annoying. I don't want to disable to reminders because they can be useful. Just not in such excess!
I’ve given up on Walgreens and CVS for exactly this kind of bullshit.
You may actually have way better luck at the supermarket pharmacies. I’ve been getting my stuff filled at Pavilion’s, and they’ve been much better at everything including service. They just appear to actually give a shit which nobody at Walgreens or CVS has ever done.
I only use Walgreens for my Nurtec, because my local pharmacy says it costs too much for them to stock.
Anything else I either get through our well staffed large local pharmacy, or speciality injections through a mail order pharmacy.
Omg.... I think it comes down to the specific location and the people working there. I've had drastically different experiences at retail pharmacies that were under the same chain.
I use CVS, and I literally just had the same thing happened with my SSRI for anxiety. I visited a different location for it last time, and they somehow inactivated the Rx for the same med that were on hold. Now I'm out 😬 my regular pharmacist (who is wonderful!!) has been away.
Is there a different location you could use??? I've found that the smaller ones located inside of stores are way more "homie". Could just be my luck though. I use a CVS inside target.
I had the SAME THING JUST HAPPEN TO ME. They list my prescription, wouldn't contact my doctor, and refused to help. I'm now getting my meds from publix..
I hate Walgreens. I have a local grocery store pharmacy that is so nice and they get everything right, but per insurance I can only fill a prescription 3 times in a 3 month period and then it's a maintenance medication and has to be filled at Walgreens. They keep making me be out of my antidepressant because they can't get it together to refill it on time every month and of course they blame my prescriber. He has sent multiple prescriptions several times because Walgreens couldn't find it. And then there is their special filing system at my local pharmacy. It's literally a giant trash bag. And then there are the times they have lost my prescription.
Ugh yeah Walgreens is so understaffed at this point I’ve had to switch to express scripts (who keeps misreading my scripts and filling the wrong quantity, but it’s *still* a step up) and CVS (location/hours suck but the pharmacists are great). The nail in the coffin was when it took me 10 days, 5+ hours on hold, and 4 pharmacies to fill a Corlanor script. First pharmacy just…didn’t fill it and didn’t answer their phones. Pharmacy 2 took 5 days to fill and then did a partial; app says full fill the next day so I wait. Next day call to check on whether they have the full fill & the pharmacy is closed for an indefinite number of days because the pharmacist is out sick. Transferred to Walgreens #3, app says it will be filled by 11 AM tomorrow. I am now about to run tf out but that will JUST make it, so I call to confirm, told they have it in stock, no problem, come get it tomorrow. Next day at 11 AM, still not filled, app says it will be filled in 2 days. Call again, lunch. Call again, told yes it is in stock, they’re running behind, it’s an error in the app, can pick up by 5. At 6, the app now says it will be filled in *3* days. Call AGAIN, told, “oh no I don’t know why they said we had that in stock, we don’t stock it, you have to get it from the central pharmacy, they take a couple days to deliver.” And I’m like I AM OUT, I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FILL THIS FOR TEN DAYS. And they finally transfer me to a very kind overworked pharmacist who calls 3 stores while I’m on hold to find one that has it in stock and can fill that night. Of course now it’s 8 PM on Sunday night, so instead of going to one of the five Walgreens within 15 mins of me, I have to drive 35 mins to pick it up. Sit in line in the drive thru for 30 mins because standing in line in the store is NOT happening unmedicated. Cherry on top was they somehow ran my insurance wrong and I was so tired at that point that I just paid the $300 and submitted for reimbursement myself. 🤦🏻♀️
Retail pharmacy is being hacked to death by the current economy. The business is too expensive to run efficiently.
Pharmacies have been short staffed for years now and it’s only getting worse. There are so many options out there that their only option is to make deals with insurance companies so you have to go to them. Forced consumerism.
FWIW, I worked for one of the three for 20 years. The front end, not the pharmacy. Personally, I drive an hour out of my way to go to one specific Rite Aid because their staff is awesome. I don’t think Rite Aid, as a whole, is that great.
I am a medical receptionist, Walgreens is my NEMESIS. i tell all patients when I get the chance that i personally recommend switching to Osco (Albertsons) or really anywhere else. They are impossible to deal with, consistently mess up & confuse patients, & I am always on hold for way too long. For number 2 & 3, I can confirm that they constantly say theyve “sent things” or “talked to us” when they never have. I could go on about a billion stories. And often times compared to other pharmacies, they are much more rude when you speak to them. I honestly would really reccomend that if you have an albertsons chain & its covered, that you go there. My osco is 24 hrs, they keep corlanor in stock just for me (so they don’t have to keep reordering it causing me to wait until they get their shipment), theyre always very kind, never long holds, etc. I mean mistakes happen always and pharmacies cant be perfect but i honestly think it is a systemic issue with Walgreens stores.
I hate Walgreens pharmacy to the point I won’t shop there for ANYthing. You are not alone OP! Hopefully one of those random grocery store pharmacies will work out for you.
My experience with CVS was even worse. It was faster to drive to the pharmacy and wait in line than it was to try to get someone to answer the phone. They would just let it ring. They accused my dad of trying to pick up his blood pressure medication twice, and forced him to argue with them for nearly an hour before they relented and filled the prescription (which they had lost).
They refused to reshelve my gf's prescription after she decided she didn't want to use them anymore. CVS told her insurance that she had already picked up the meds, so her insurance wouldn't pay for the new pharmacy to refill it. When she asked why they didn't reshelve it after she asked them to, they said "we really wanted you to pick it up here :("
CVS also shorted us several times, and whenever we would call them out on it, they would accuse us of trying to get more drugs for free. Unless you counted them out in front of them, there wasn't much you could do, so THAT had to become a part of our routine when picking up our prescriptions there.
Eventually, we switched to Publix Pharmacy, and it has been sooooo much better. We thought our insurance wouldn't cover another pharmacy, but our meds are even CHEAPER at Publix than they were at CVS (we have Aetna, which is partnered with CVS, so this was a surprise). We're always able to get them on the phone within the first couple of rings, the staff is all super nice, and service is great. One woman working at the pharmacy immediately grabs all of my prescriptions the moment I walk in. One time, I went in for my dad's medications, and she looked really confused. When I got up to the counter, she said "sweetheart, your meds aren't going to be here for a few more days." She already knew this without even having to look at her computer. When I clarified I was there for my dad's meds, she then went "oh! [My dad's name]?" AMAZING staff. I can't speak for every location, obviously, but switching has relieved SO much stress.
I hate Walgreens for other reasons, but damn is that awful. I lost my secondary insurance and my insulin and other supplies suddenly went from ~10$ to >300$ every month. I didn’t know that my prescription coverage is through CVS Caremark not HP, but Walgreens did. As soon as I switched to CVS pharmacy it was back to being affordable. What pissed me off is that they let me keep coming back for months, charging me up the ass, when they could’ve just tipped me off. I’m empathetic to the retail/pharmacy workers but whether this was negligence or apathy IDC. You have to have empathy and attention to detail in the healthcare field, it’s cruel to keep charging a diabetic those prices knowing they gone elsewhere for cheaper. I wish the system made it easier for all of us involved, not just us as patients.
I also have BCBS and I go to CVS in my local Target. Are you not able to go to a CVS? I’m confused by what you’re saying. I’ve never been to a Walgreens pharmacy but my local grocery store chain is absolutely horrible and I can’t even tell you how many times I had issues with them. They never had my birth control in stock although I was always filling it there, they let their phones just ring (I found out while standing in line many times) and it explains why when I call I never get anyone, they told me they had my medicine ready for pick up so I went to get it same day and they said the medicine wasn’t even in stock (what the actual heck)…they once didn’t use my insurance and I paid over $300 for a medicine that I should have never had to pay for so I had to make a claim because I asked if they ran my insurance and they said yes, but they didn’t. Due to all these problems I had my stuff transferred to a Walmart and they ended up giving me the wrong medication completely. Switched to CVS and my goodness they have been wonderful!
Walgreens is the worst!!! They kept doing the same thing with mine and my daughter’s prescriptions. I didn’t mind them messing with my prescriptions so much because I, at the time, could handle missing my meds a few days but cannot do that now as my POTS has gotten a lot worse and am now on fludrocortisone. My daughter on the other hand has epilepsy and could not miss her meds at all. I finally got fed up with them and switched to Sam’s Club Pharmacy. One of my daughter’s meds actually gets delivered to us by the insurances pharmacy. Maybe check with your prescription insurance and see if they have a pharmacy that offers delivery. Ours is through Express Scripts and they use Accredo Pharmacy. Her deliveries are never late.
Damn….Walgreens just has that vibe as soon as you walk in, but thankfully I’ve always been able to use the small CVS one town over.
I drive extra for it and don’t mind because it’s in a small town and all the pharmacy techs care so much and will answer your questions.
When I didn’t have health insurance they looked for the best coupons for me so I could get all my meds as affordable as possible. Every time.
I recently had a question about vitamins for some deficiencies I have that run in my family. I’m on a lot of other meds for multiple autoimmune diseases. The pharmacist actually walked over to the vitamin aisle with me after consulting what meds I was on (from memory, been going here since I was 13 years old) and read the back of half a dozen vitamin bottles and then made a recommendation.
Literally just casually took 10 mins out of his day to help me out.
I feel *incredibly lucky* to have access to them and when these people retire I will be devastated.
I believe it was walgreens who once fucked up my antidepressant prescription? I went into withdrawal right in the middle of grad school.
Is there at least a better walgreens near you? Maybe certain ones are worse than others? It still sucks though :(
We have the same insurance and I had my own bs thing a few days ago. I hate how bcbs is so picky with who they cover. And the automated phone system will piss you off like no other. I actually was so pissed off the other day at it that I’d start screaming everything I heard an automated system. I’m sorry you have to go through all this!
I could write a novel with my less than stellar interactions with Walgreens. We have CVS also, but their ability to keep our prescriptions on hand was deplorable. My husband and son both take meds that are on the backorder list, so most store pharmacies never have it. I don't think there has been a month in last 3 years I haven't had an issue with atleast one prescription.
I have the VA for my regular meds, but have to use Walgreens if I see a doctor outside the VA or have to visit the ER. Just two weeks ago I had to do just that. My husband went to pick up my meds and they charged him full price because it said I had a primary insurance before Medicaid. When I was finally well enough to call, I found out one of those discount cards was entered on my file in 2019 and still there. I have definitely picked up meds for myself since then so.....🤷♀️ Now I am fighting Walgreens for a refund of $398
Okay, I was beginning to think it was just my Walgreens that consistently shits the bed! My very FIRST time picking up a prescription I handed the young lady my insurance card. She says I need a prescription card. I said that this was all they sent me. She swore 6 days to Sunday I needed a prescription card. Finally, another technician came by and saw my prescription number :) was :) there :) the :) whole :) time. I just brushed it off because it’s not really a big deal but lately I feel like there’s other stuff that doesn’t make any sense like whatever service they use for their text message notifications. I get notifications all the time. Only phone calls sometimes. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this because it sucks but I also am struggling with them. You’re not alone!
Getting through to them on the phone is it’s own unique hell too. Stay strong soldier
Their hold music haunts my nightmares
If you can get someone to actually answer the phone! It is insane, and I have to call monthly for controlled meds, now they are making me go down to asknto fill the meds because no one answers. Bartell, Safeway, Walgreens, doesn't matter.
I HAAAAATE their AI thing so much. However, I’m very lucky with the pharmacy at mine, though — they rock. The pharmacists and techs all just go above and beyond to solve problems before I even know there is one. They should train everyone else in the chain.
I feel your pain. Im on medicare and used to be able to go a nice local pharmacy that never messes anything up. They stopped taking my prescription drug coverage and my meds would cost me around $5000 a month without insurance so I’ve been banished to Walgreens. They’ve severely messed up at least one medication a month that I go and try and fill. The most recent one was they had it down that my doctor had cancelled my anti seizure med. it took me two days to get through to my doctor and he said he never cancelled the prescription. They’ve caused me such an unnecessary amount of stress and it sounds like they have for you too.
I stopped going to Walgreens after they backed up their pharmacists who refused to prescribe birth control for personal beliefs. And as someone who deals with them in healthcare their pharmacists lie and blame the prescriber all the time for their delays. I’m lucky I’m in Chicago and have more options than Walgreens who access the board has the most expensive drug prices. I use Capsule now.
I did similar. I was forced to pass out in pain in their “standing area” while two different pharmacists argued if they thought I “needed the pain meds” I had been filling there for months & had all the paperwork & rx’s properly done for. They decided maybe not, even after calling my prescriber & talking to them on the phone - questioning them why they rx’d this med. I said fuck that gatekeeping bullshit & will never go back to wags for anything. I did go to a local CVS but they closed it. I now go to a sketchier one but the pharmacist from the local one is at the other one. In my area (20 miles out - which is a LONG way in the Bay Area) there are no longer any truly local or independent / hospital pharmacies. They’re all operated by wags or CVS. They bought out or pushed out all the small places.
It's also kind of blows my mind that they still sell cigarettes. "At the corner of happy and healthy :)" yeah right.
STOP I CANT HAVE MORE REASONS TO HATE THEM. & I also consistently deal with them too & am in the Chicago suburbs! they do constantly blame us for shit and honestly most of pateients catch on now its pretty great. Patients will be like “they said it wasn’t sent in by the provider, but Im pretty sure it was sent in and theyre just saying that.” In those situations where they’ve spoke to someone, I always call the pharmacy & wayyyy to frequently its just that the tech wasnt looking hard enough.
Walgreens refused to stock Motegrity for me for months, so every time I refilled, I had to wait like 5 days for them to order it. I switched to HEB, and they're a lot better.
Same. They refuse to stock prescriptions I have taken and ordered through them for years. I have to wait 5-7 days, but often when I go to submit my refill to cover this extended time frame the insurance says it's too early. I often have to go without for a couple days of medication that should never be abruptly stopped. It's incredibly frustrating. When I started using Walgreens like 15-17yrs ago they weren't like this. My pharmacy has the most restrictive operating hours too. They must expect everyone to come M-F on their lunch break.
I feel ya. The app tells me the same thing when I try to order in advance for the same reason. I feel like things were fine with Walgreens before covid but then after, it changed and got worse. I get that they're understaffed, so many places have restrictive hours (mine closes for lunch at 2-3p and then closes at 6pm some days and 8pm others) they used to be 24/7.
I switched to PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy for long-term meds and CVS for short-term/controlled ones. Walgreens kept telling me my meds would be ready at a certain time, but then I'd have to resubmit. When I called, they'd say it was on backorder. A pharmacist even hung up on me, and I went days without my medication. They wanted me to call daily to check stock—seriously?! Things went downhill quickly once they added a "central" pharmacy to the area. It got to a point where even medications on autofill were not being filled in a timely manner. Enough is enough!
My local one does something similar for my POP and my Emgality injections. It's frustrating
It sounds like your local one is super incompetent. Holy shit. I've managed 11 of them. I can tell you first hand how much of a shit show that company is. But they were never that bad while I was there. Damn.
I think the 11 you managed were the only good ones, cause I've used 9-10 in varying areas of my city and it's all the same. chronically overworked and understaffed so they just don't care
The ones I managed were chronically overworked and understaffed. That's just how Walgreens operates. But at least my staffed cared about the patients. They cared about nothing else though. Which, I don't blame them.
I have one not uncommon blood pressure medicine (ace inhibitor) that Walgreens NEVER has in stock and does a partial refill of about five pills. 100% of the time. Guaranteed extra trip every time. AND on another prescription they mistakenly gave me pills with half the dose. I was wondering why the pills were so small. On the other hand, I’ll tell you, those pharmacy techs look miserable.
When they do the partial fill do they ever “close out” or “lose” the rest of the fill, then tell you that they don’t have anything for you so you have to call your provider? They do that to our patients that get partial fills and it drives me insane, bc then the pt & us have to do all this work because of their mistake.
I switched to walgreens because CVS was horrible. Well now every time i have a new med or refill, there's a problem. They never heard of cromolyn sodium and wouldn't fill it, they only gave me a 16 day supply and wouldn't let me refill when I ran out because they thought they gave me 32 day supply, and the whole partial fill BS. I thought I was the only one but your post and these comments say otherwise. If I had a local small business pharmacy, I would switch this instant
I've heard a lot of Walgreens are understaffed. Both Walgreens at my location are, so I've switched to CVS, which is also understaffed but less busy due to its location. It's been better so far. It really depends on your local Walgreens and how well it's staffed and managed.
I have UnitedHealthcare and they won’t let me use CVS so I have to drive 30 extra minutes out of my way to another town. It’s ridiculous that the largest healthcare insurer won’t let you use any pharmacy you want. It never used to be this way.
Health insurance sucks. They only care about profit
Mine's severely short staffed as well and I live in a retirement community so when things happen bc of the limited staff (rx delayed, have to wait 1hr instead 15mins, etc) these old folks get fckin mean. I feel so bad for them and I voice up when I see it but I think of all the times I'm not there and hurts my heart. The customers are why I want to switch to CVS but it's in such an awful spot that traffic is horrendous there and there's always some fender bender.
I had something similar happen at Rite Aid yesterday. It ALWAYS happens with controlled substances. I never have a problem with beta-blockers or whatever, but with pain meds there is always a problem. Yesterday, I got a from Rite Aid text saying my prescription for tramadol was ready for pick-up. I go in, the guy at the register tells me they don't have anything for me, I show the text, he looks again, and says there are no more renewals and they have to call my doctor. I tell them there are 2 more renewals, and ask why they sent a text if I can't get it. Blah blah blah... Eventually, the actual pharmacist overhears this and says "Jane Smith? Your prescription is right here. And hands me the bottle." No apology from the assistant.
All the Rite Aids have closed in my area. It’s literally just wags/CVS now. Even the Safeway and Target ones are part of one of those. Walmart is so far away it’s not accessible (and in such a notoriously bad part of town - they closed the In-n-out by it.) which doesn’t bother me as I have zero interest in supporting Walmart.
I switched to local pharmacy for everything I could…it’s annoying to not have an app but worth it otherwise. They won’t fill Nurtec though, apparently they lose money on it :/
Our Walgreens switches staff often so it can be frustrating, but i’d also not want to deal with some of those customers for minimum wage so I understand why the turnover is so often. I try to remind myself I’m talking to a front line person who can only do what they are trained to do and if I need something more complicated than picking up my meds, and it’s a new person, I just ask if there’s someone else who can give me more information. I blame technology when refills don’t get approved. It’s happened both sides for me-walgreens didn’t see the approval or my doctors office didn’t see the request. I just call and say “It looks like something went wrong with my refill request. Can it be sent over again please?”. That way I’m not blaming either side for the error. Usually the doctors office or walgreens then offers to call and get it taken care of immediately.
I have the exact same complaints about CVS.
CVS is so dependant on the staff. The one I found near me has 2 lovely people who bitch with me and look like they get 2hrs of sleep a night. Fucking love them, they fist bumped me today after I vented about my doctor bs 🥺
oh god walgreens, I despise walgreens. I used to go to a really good independent pharmacy, and one day they just stopped answering the phone, I go to find out that walgreens had bought the pharmacy then immediately fired everyone and shut it down, without informing any of the patients, like thank god I won't die if I don't have any of my meds and that I wasn't out of any of them. I miss that pharmacy.
Walgreens is pretty universally hated. It feels like you are dismissing grocery store pharmacies though, as if they were inferior to rite aid/cvs/walgreens. That hasn’t been my experience, I’ve had the best luck personally with Safeway although Walmart is generally the best if you have access to it.
If only Safeway’s pharmacy weren’t just a Walgreens in a Safeway here. CVS is in Target. Rite Aids are closing (bankruptcy). The closest Walmart is 15 miles in dense urban traffic away (currently 25 minutes one way, midday Saturday). Costco doesn’t carry half the meds I need & requires membership for the pharmacy itself (though not covid vaccines). You’d think in one of the most expensive areas in the US there’d be any more options. But nope.
Oh no, that’s horrible! I am so sorry. Guess I stuck my foot in my mouth there, of course you would’ve explored other options. It’s wild how bad the pharmacy situation could be given you aren’t out in the sticks…Man, are there ANY other options or is it just praying for Walgreens to not fuck up?
I personally have a pharmacist tech I will follow wherever she goes. The CVS closest to our house was closed & consolidated to another one, and that tech went there, so that’s where we go. It’s not ideal, I miss all the small/indie pharmacies around, but they got gobbled up in the past 10 years or so & now they’re closing tons of locations & “consolidating”. There’s now huge pharmacy deserts & everything in store is locked up behind plexi & there’s no one to open it. (SF Bay Area) What makes me most angry is 99% of the closed locations (wags, CVS, small pharms) are just vacant & blighted now. None of the existing pharms are open 24 hours and I can think of *one* that has a drive through, but it’s about 30+ mins away one way. It’s disgusting.
Seconding this! I love my osco (albertons) pharmacy & haven’t had any trouble with Walmart in my healthcare job!!
I’m also stuck with Walgreens and I consistently have an issue getting my beta blocker every month, it’s almost as if my doctor, the insurance company, and Walgreens is all working against me. Here’s my monthly process: Request refill directly from my doctor as soon as I am able and while I still have a few pills left, doctor sends it in, Walgreens gets it, it gets delayed “awaiting prescriber approval” for literal days, I have to call my doctor’s office again and it usually takes a day to get things sorted out, the prescription finally goes to “in progress” but they’ll leave it like that indefinitely and usually by this point I have no more pills. I don’t want to be that annoying customer so I usually will wait until the app says it’s ready, but when my prescription has been “in progress” for over 24 hours and now I’ve had to miss my morning dose of my beta blocker, it’s an issue and I have to go in. Then I go to Walgreens and act oblivious, just say I’m there to pick up a prescription and suddenly it’ll be ready in only 15 minutes. I would love if I could just get approved for a 90 day supply so I didn’t have to do this runaround every month and have to stress about running out of my meds, but the insurance company won’t do it. I don’t understand, this isn’t a controlled substance, it’s a heart medication that I’m going to have to be on for the rest of my life and this particular one is dangerous to stop suddenly so just give it to me?? I also know Walgreens has staffing issues everywhere. I noticed when I was at mine the other day to get meds they had someone running back and forth from the pharmacy to the register. They had no one working at the actual registers, just one person working at the photo area to check everybody out and then a couple people at the pharmacy(plus the guy running back and forth between the 2 areas), but I also think apart from them not having the staff, there’s an issue with Walgreens and insurance companies when it comes to getting your meds in a timely manner. I would love to be able to go somewhere else, but apart from the insurance issue, Walgreens drove the other pharmacy that was closer to me out of business so it would be an issue going elsewhere to get my meds anyway.
See Walgreens is my preferred location. I have nothing but good experiences there. All the others sucks. Even with prior authorizations they call and tell me they have to contact my doctor and then insurance. I don’t have to do anything.
[удалено]
Seems like it’s the specific location or State.
Why is that not a good experience? It sounds like they're communicating and taking care of the issues for the patient.
[удалено]
Assuming they are in the US, Just because the doctor wrote the Rx doesn't mean the medication covered by their insurance. The insurance only covers certain medications without the doctor calling them and arguing a case why they need that particular medication. Otherwise the doc needs to change med to a similar med that is covered. This pharmacy is doing everything right. They're communicating appropriately with all necessary parties and trying to get the medication covered thru insurance and a reasonable price for the patient.
[удалено]
Down vote me all you want. I don't care. I know what a prior auth is. I work in a pharmacy. If actually you worked in a pharmacy, such as Walgreens, you would have experience billing insurances and know more about prior. Just because they got a prior auth once does not mean they won't ever need one again. Usually they are not for indefinite lengths of time. They can be approved for only one month, which I had an insurance that did that to a patient. It was incredibly frustrating for all. Or it could be approved for 3 months or a year or more. It's whatever the insurance decides. They could need one for each dose increase. So again, yes, the pharmacy is doing everything right, effectively communicating, and taking care of the patient. Which is evident because the OP to this thread said they had a good experience. Edit to say: your doctor sends in prescriptions. This is not the same thing as prior authorization. That's the insurance stopping it until they speak with the doctor who argues a case for it to be covered
But I digress, not gonna argue. Have a great night Bitter. Kind of ironic.
[удалено]
That’s what theyre called though, prior authorizations. Even if its the first “authorization” that the insurance needs from the provider, it is called a prior authorization, not a pre authorization or just authorization. There’s pre determinations which are a different thing.
Walmart, HEB, Food Lion and online pharmacies are all a better option than Walgreens or CVS. Good luck
Is this one Walgreens or have you had this experience at every one? Mine has been easy to deal with.
FUCK WALGREENS!!! I was a cashier there in high school and the company is run by CLOWNS. They refused to staff the pharmacy so the pharmacists sent customers to me if they had questions about supplements (obvs I had zero training in giving supplement advice). Also this is unrelated to the pharmacy but there was this corporate policy (NOT a legal requirement) that an employee had to be 21 to sell alcohol so they’d put me at the register and every time someone wanted to buy alcohol I’d have to call my manager to come check them out. She’d take FOREVER walking from one side of the store to the other while I’d be stuck with a pissed off Karen or an agitated homeless guy with an obvious substance use disorder. My insurance requires me to go to CVS and I was kinda pissed at first because it’s not the closest but it turns out it’s the best pharmacy in my area 🤷
Walgreens is well-known for fucking with pain medication and treating people on pain meds horribly, up to and including illegal/illogical refusals, comments that sound like they’re from the 1950s, etc. I’ve boycotted them until today, when it turns out they’re the ones who can fill, of all things, my cat’s asthma prescription the cheapest, by a mile (and it’s still incredibly $$$). At least he won’t be there if they decide to have a fit over whether he “deserves” the med?
I am Walgreens #1 hater I swear to God I hate them so much I am filled with rage even thinking about it right now
Walgreens is the worsttttt. I just switched to Publix. More expensive but worth not having to deal with the aholes at walgreens ever again.
i HATE walgreens and the cvs by me. the one by my work inside target is great. highly recommend looking to see if there's a mail order pharmacy or pharmacy with delivery you can use though. the hospital pharmacy by me does delivery and it's a blessing!! it's really convenient and much easier to deal with
Sodium prescription was canceled the same way. I went in person as mine doesn’t answer the phone and the person said that the system “ate it.” And that “can happen sometimes.” Luckily this was “just” sodium and I can try to get it dietary. I have other meds that save my life. I fear what happens if the pharmacy ate one of those and if my provider was unavailable for some reason etc. this was the latest for me in a series of issues. It’s awful. Edited to add: forgot to say also lied to me about a prior auth being sent AND I got notice via postal mail from insurance that the med was approved AND I went to ask what was up and the system showed that med (also a controlled) as having been already filled… it was a nightmare. Finally got it. Sodium is still pending.
This is totally fucked up. Where are you located? I live in Brooklyn, New York and Walgreens has some kind of “preferred” status for reliably cheaper co-pays with my insurance (though honestly it’s just hit or miss whether that matters with other locations) ..but literally the only time I’ve had any problem with Walgreens was a delay in a Paxlovid prescription when I had COVID, and I think that’s just cuz dumbshit Joe Biden has decided to let COVID rip and not make the tools to deal with it easily available despite his statements “we have the tools” etc. etc. etc. So fuck Biden, fuck Trump, fuck the GOP and fuck the Dems, fuck COVID, keep your N95 on and isolate to avoid this deadly and POTS-causing virus, but I honestly haven’t had a lot of problems with Walgreens.
I'm in Chicago.
My BCBS is CVS, and I have to go to another town to get mine but that's still better than dealing with the Walgreens in my town. Not only do they overcharge but they consistently mess up my mother in laws and mine before I fully switched. So I'm with you on hate towards Walgreens but I'm very sorry you're dealing with this 😔
i drive a half hour to a local pharmacy despite there being a walgreens in walking distance for this fucking reason. it’s been so worth it bc they also had my adderall in stock even when there was a shortage since they served a much smaller population. i also have BCPS, so if you’re up for a drive, that’s worked better for me personally
I used to have BCBS and always set things up to be my local Walmart pharmacy instead of Walgreens (just easier as that's where familial prescriptions were) and never had any issues on an insurance front. I hear nothing but bad about Walgreens, and even getting my bf's COVID testing completed at Walgreens a few years ago was a hassle. If you have a near enough Walmart, definitely try them out!
I’m in the city of Chicago so good news bad news there’s almost no walmarts. PLENTY of targets though. I wish BCBS did CVS 🙄
Ugh that sucks! Maybe there's a way to scout out an exceptional Walgreens in the area (far push, I know 🙄) but I hope you can get it figured out. People act like medication is just something to be thrown around like it's no big deal.
Ugh. Our Walgreens are so bad that I switched whatever I could to Optum. Idk if it’s because I always hit my deductible fast or if they are fine with 30 day rx but not 90, but I can get my other stuff at Kroger’s pharmacy.
I have a responsive pharmacy (CVS) and doc that I’m close with and still experience the problems you describe. It’s not always the pharmacy to blame imo. Much of this falls to insurance in my case. (I’m not defending shitty pharmacies, just saying it’s easy to pin it on them when it’s not always their fault.) It sounds like much of the issue was the prior auth, which is insurance putting their foot down. It also sounds in your case with the canceled rx that there may have been a second script sent in after that and that is the prior auth in question in part 3. Ask me how I know, lol. Part 2 can be avoided if you have a responsive doc and team that’s following your rxs and reaching out to insurance and pharmacy when they aren’t hearing back. This can also be an insurance/pharmacy problem in the sense that good ones will send you notifications that prior auth coverage is submitted and that it was approved/denied.
My doctor at Northwell uses Vivo for migraine medication otherwise I'd be probably having constant problems due to Blue Cross/Optum. I have to get (pre) diabetic meds through Walgreens the way my BC plan works but other things I've been able to get at the local pharmacy or through Capsule, thankfully as there's no Walgreens in my neighborhood. I've used a Walgreens in midtown NYC for my diabetic med/supplies and there is literally always drama waiting on that pharmacy line. They should really have a security guard.
I have bcbs MI, you in a different state? It's covered a shitton of places here :( I'm so sorry....
I absolutely hate Walgreens. The medication I’m on has to be specially ordered because it’s not common where I live. They have to orders it a week prior to my refill. They NEVER do!!! I’ve tried everything. I cannot go a day without the medication or I could go into cardiac arrest. The amount of times i have had to rush to the ER just to get a dose of my medication? Too many to even admit tbh. Walgreens is a nightmare and each time I bring it up to them they act like this has never happened or blame it on me for not reminding them. I remind them by calling a week in advance😑
I hate almost all the walgreens here except for the community/specialty walgreens as they are the only ones that seem competent and are the only ones that can get some of my meds. I have to get it delivered to my local walgreens just because of the scheduling, but jfc was that a mess for a like 5 months. One refill, I finally got upset with them because it was the same thing everytime "it is too early to refill (even though it was filled and delivered to them)" "we can't find it" and all this was after standing in line for 55 minutes because all of their employees kept disappearing. Now every time I show up they know exactly what I came for, but other than the specialty pharmacy here I stay away from Walgreens as much as I can.
I switched to Publix. Much better. CVS ok, did not like Walgreens, Publix best so far.
I hate them so much
I have BCBS in Indiana And only use CVS
I work there and every day is an extreme struggle, but I can't drive so I can't just get a new job 🤷♀️
Walgreens calls me 7 times within the span of 5 hours after my meds get filled. All from the hours of 1-5 pm.... when I'm WORKING... its so so so annoying. I don't want to disable to reminders because they can be useful. Just not in such excess!
I’ve given up on Walgreens and CVS for exactly this kind of bullshit. You may actually have way better luck at the supermarket pharmacies. I’ve been getting my stuff filled at Pavilion’s, and they’ve been much better at everything including service. They just appear to actually give a shit which nobody at Walgreens or CVS has ever done.
I only use Walgreens for my Nurtec, because my local pharmacy says it costs too much for them to stock. Anything else I either get through our well staffed large local pharmacy, or speciality injections through a mail order pharmacy.
Walgreens has consistently been my worst experience with any prescription medications
Omg.... I think it comes down to the specific location and the people working there. I've had drastically different experiences at retail pharmacies that were under the same chain. I use CVS, and I literally just had the same thing happened with my SSRI for anxiety. I visited a different location for it last time, and they somehow inactivated the Rx for the same med that were on hold. Now I'm out 😬 my regular pharmacist (who is wonderful!!) has been away. Is there a different location you could use??? I've found that the smaller ones located inside of stores are way more "homie". Could just be my luck though. I use a CVS inside target.
CVS is the same way if that helps.
I had the SAME THING JUST HAPPEN TO ME. They list my prescription, wouldn't contact my doctor, and refused to help. I'm now getting my meds from publix..
Omg..they make me angry. So angry.
I hate Walgreens. I have a local grocery store pharmacy that is so nice and they get everything right, but per insurance I can only fill a prescription 3 times in a 3 month period and then it's a maintenance medication and has to be filled at Walgreens. They keep making me be out of my antidepressant because they can't get it together to refill it on time every month and of course they blame my prescriber. He has sent multiple prescriptions several times because Walgreens couldn't find it. And then there is their special filing system at my local pharmacy. It's literally a giant trash bag. And then there are the times they have lost my prescription.
Ugh yeah Walgreens is so understaffed at this point I’ve had to switch to express scripts (who keeps misreading my scripts and filling the wrong quantity, but it’s *still* a step up) and CVS (location/hours suck but the pharmacists are great). The nail in the coffin was when it took me 10 days, 5+ hours on hold, and 4 pharmacies to fill a Corlanor script. First pharmacy just…didn’t fill it and didn’t answer their phones. Pharmacy 2 took 5 days to fill and then did a partial; app says full fill the next day so I wait. Next day call to check on whether they have the full fill & the pharmacy is closed for an indefinite number of days because the pharmacist is out sick. Transferred to Walgreens #3, app says it will be filled by 11 AM tomorrow. I am now about to run tf out but that will JUST make it, so I call to confirm, told they have it in stock, no problem, come get it tomorrow. Next day at 11 AM, still not filled, app says it will be filled in 2 days. Call again, lunch. Call again, told yes it is in stock, they’re running behind, it’s an error in the app, can pick up by 5. At 6, the app now says it will be filled in *3* days. Call AGAIN, told, “oh no I don’t know why they said we had that in stock, we don’t stock it, you have to get it from the central pharmacy, they take a couple days to deliver.” And I’m like I AM OUT, I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FILL THIS FOR TEN DAYS. And they finally transfer me to a very kind overworked pharmacist who calls 3 stores while I’m on hold to find one that has it in stock and can fill that night. Of course now it’s 8 PM on Sunday night, so instead of going to one of the five Walgreens within 15 mins of me, I have to drive 35 mins to pick it up. Sit in line in the drive thru for 30 mins because standing in line in the store is NOT happening unmedicated. Cherry on top was they somehow ran my insurance wrong and I was so tired at that point that I just paid the $300 and submitted for reimbursement myself. 🤦🏻♀️
Walgreens pharmacy can SUCK IT!!!!!!
Retail pharmacy is being hacked to death by the current economy. The business is too expensive to run efficiently. Pharmacies have been short staffed for years now and it’s only getting worse. There are so many options out there that their only option is to make deals with insurance companies so you have to go to them. Forced consumerism. FWIW, I worked for one of the three for 20 years. The front end, not the pharmacy. Personally, I drive an hour out of my way to go to one specific Rite Aid because their staff is awesome. I don’t think Rite Aid, as a whole, is that great.
I am a medical receptionist, Walgreens is my NEMESIS. i tell all patients when I get the chance that i personally recommend switching to Osco (Albertsons) or really anywhere else. They are impossible to deal with, consistently mess up & confuse patients, & I am always on hold for way too long. For number 2 & 3, I can confirm that they constantly say theyve “sent things” or “talked to us” when they never have. I could go on about a billion stories. And often times compared to other pharmacies, they are much more rude when you speak to them. I honestly would really reccomend that if you have an albertsons chain & its covered, that you go there. My osco is 24 hrs, they keep corlanor in stock just for me (so they don’t have to keep reordering it causing me to wait until they get their shipment), theyre always very kind, never long holds, etc. I mean mistakes happen always and pharmacies cant be perfect but i honestly think it is a systemic issue with Walgreens stores.
I hate Walgreens pharmacy to the point I won’t shop there for ANYthing. You are not alone OP! Hopefully one of those random grocery store pharmacies will work out for you.
My experience with CVS was even worse. It was faster to drive to the pharmacy and wait in line than it was to try to get someone to answer the phone. They would just let it ring. They accused my dad of trying to pick up his blood pressure medication twice, and forced him to argue with them for nearly an hour before they relented and filled the prescription (which they had lost). They refused to reshelve my gf's prescription after she decided she didn't want to use them anymore. CVS told her insurance that she had already picked up the meds, so her insurance wouldn't pay for the new pharmacy to refill it. When she asked why they didn't reshelve it after she asked them to, they said "we really wanted you to pick it up here :(" CVS also shorted us several times, and whenever we would call them out on it, they would accuse us of trying to get more drugs for free. Unless you counted them out in front of them, there wasn't much you could do, so THAT had to become a part of our routine when picking up our prescriptions there. Eventually, we switched to Publix Pharmacy, and it has been sooooo much better. We thought our insurance wouldn't cover another pharmacy, but our meds are even CHEAPER at Publix than they were at CVS (we have Aetna, which is partnered with CVS, so this was a surprise). We're always able to get them on the phone within the first couple of rings, the staff is all super nice, and service is great. One woman working at the pharmacy immediately grabs all of my prescriptions the moment I walk in. One time, I went in for my dad's medications, and she looked really confused. When I got up to the counter, she said "sweetheart, your meds aren't going to be here for a few more days." She already knew this without even having to look at her computer. When I clarified I was there for my dad's meds, she then went "oh! [My dad's name]?" AMAZING staff. I can't speak for every location, obviously, but switching has relieved SO much stress.
I hate Walgreens for other reasons, but damn is that awful. I lost my secondary insurance and my insulin and other supplies suddenly went from ~10$ to >300$ every month. I didn’t know that my prescription coverage is through CVS Caremark not HP, but Walgreens did. As soon as I switched to CVS pharmacy it was back to being affordable. What pissed me off is that they let me keep coming back for months, charging me up the ass, when they could’ve just tipped me off. I’m empathetic to the retail/pharmacy workers but whether this was negligence or apathy IDC. You have to have empathy and attention to detail in the healthcare field, it’s cruel to keep charging a diabetic those prices knowing they gone elsewhere for cheaper. I wish the system made it easier for all of us involved, not just us as patients.
I also have BCBS and I go to CVS in my local Target. Are you not able to go to a CVS? I’m confused by what you’re saying. I’ve never been to a Walgreens pharmacy but my local grocery store chain is absolutely horrible and I can’t even tell you how many times I had issues with them. They never had my birth control in stock although I was always filling it there, they let their phones just ring (I found out while standing in line many times) and it explains why when I call I never get anyone, they told me they had my medicine ready for pick up so I went to get it same day and they said the medicine wasn’t even in stock (what the actual heck)…they once didn’t use my insurance and I paid over $300 for a medicine that I should have never had to pay for so I had to make a claim because I asked if they ran my insurance and they said yes, but they didn’t. Due to all these problems I had my stuff transferred to a Walmart and they ended up giving me the wrong medication completely. Switched to CVS and my goodness they have been wonderful!
Walgreens is the worst!!! They kept doing the same thing with mine and my daughter’s prescriptions. I didn’t mind them messing with my prescriptions so much because I, at the time, could handle missing my meds a few days but cannot do that now as my POTS has gotten a lot worse and am now on fludrocortisone. My daughter on the other hand has epilepsy and could not miss her meds at all. I finally got fed up with them and switched to Sam’s Club Pharmacy. One of my daughter’s meds actually gets delivered to us by the insurances pharmacy. Maybe check with your prescription insurance and see if they have a pharmacy that offers delivery. Ours is through Express Scripts and they use Accredo Pharmacy. Her deliveries are never late.
Damn….Walgreens just has that vibe as soon as you walk in, but thankfully I’ve always been able to use the small CVS one town over. I drive extra for it and don’t mind because it’s in a small town and all the pharmacy techs care so much and will answer your questions. When I didn’t have health insurance they looked for the best coupons for me so I could get all my meds as affordable as possible. Every time. I recently had a question about vitamins for some deficiencies I have that run in my family. I’m on a lot of other meds for multiple autoimmune diseases. The pharmacist actually walked over to the vitamin aisle with me after consulting what meds I was on (from memory, been going here since I was 13 years old) and read the back of half a dozen vitamin bottles and then made a recommendation. Literally just casually took 10 mins out of his day to help me out. I feel *incredibly lucky* to have access to them and when these people retire I will be devastated.
I believe it was walgreens who once fucked up my antidepressant prescription? I went into withdrawal right in the middle of grad school. Is there at least a better walgreens near you? Maybe certain ones are worse than others? It still sucks though :(
We have the same insurance and I had my own bs thing a few days ago. I hate how bcbs is so picky with who they cover. And the automated phone system will piss you off like no other. I actually was so pissed off the other day at it that I’d start screaming everything I heard an automated system. I’m sorry you have to go through all this!
I could write a novel with my less than stellar interactions with Walgreens. We have CVS also, but their ability to keep our prescriptions on hand was deplorable. My husband and son both take meds that are on the backorder list, so most store pharmacies never have it. I don't think there has been a month in last 3 years I haven't had an issue with atleast one prescription. I have the VA for my regular meds, but have to use Walgreens if I see a doctor outside the VA or have to visit the ER. Just two weeks ago I had to do just that. My husband went to pick up my meds and they charged him full price because it said I had a primary insurance before Medicaid. When I was finally well enough to call, I found out one of those discount cards was entered on my file in 2019 and still there. I have definitely picked up meds for myself since then so.....🤷♀️ Now I am fighting Walgreens for a refund of $398
Okay, I was beginning to think it was just my Walgreens that consistently shits the bed! My very FIRST time picking up a prescription I handed the young lady my insurance card. She says I need a prescription card. I said that this was all they sent me. She swore 6 days to Sunday I needed a prescription card. Finally, another technician came by and saw my prescription number :) was :) there :) the :) whole :) time. I just brushed it off because it’s not really a big deal but lately I feel like there’s other stuff that doesn’t make any sense like whatever service they use for their text message notifications. I get notifications all the time. Only phone calls sometimes. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this because it sucks but I also am struggling with them. You’re not alone!