Why Do People Continue To Go To Cvs Or Walgreens??? (Top voted first)

The Internet is flooded with horror stories about these arrogant, cocky, self absorbed pharmacists who think their s*** doesn’t stink as well as the pharmacy themselves. CVS and Walgreens have grown too big for their britches, but what I don’t understand is why people insist on flooding these stores every time they get a prescription? Insurance is insurance and there are tons of small pharmacies that will all go out of their way to cater to you a lot better than the name brands/chain brand outlets. So I ask again why do y'all keep going to a pharmacy that you hate? I think we should all have a national "go somewhere other than CVS or Walgreens" month!

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Well I'm on many medications and Walgreens not only has auto refill, but all my meds show up at my door exactly when I am out. On days I'm not feeling well, this is a blessing. Not all name brand chains have bad or rude pharmacists. Just like any family owned pharmacy, there are good just like there are bad.

Another thing is that my doctor can electronically send my controlled substance script to the pharmacy without a hard copy. This saves me time and gas when I'm out and need a refill sent in.

I do get though that if people are going to complain about big stores, then they need to pick another one.

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2 Times I went there to fill a prescription That’s for my granddaughter and they wouldn’t fill a prescription her doctor prescribed for her saying she could overdose on it. I think the doctor knows what he should prescribe for his own patients. And I went there to feel my pain medication and when I went to pick it up they told me I shouldn’t be taking one of them with the other, not knowing my history and the fact that I’ve been on the medication for several years already. I just told him just give me back my prescriptions and forget it you’re not my doctor and you don’t know what you’re talking about. To me that they refuse to fill prescriptions your doctor gave you for your child or want to tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing and they don’t even know your history! They are not the doctors, if they wanted to be doctors they should’ve went to medical school

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Re: angelw (# 7)

Many times I have had my Dr of many years refer me to the Pharmacist when I have specific medication questions. Pharmacists r very. Knowledgeable on the effects of meds.

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Re: Eric (# 26)

A couple of things. The pharmacy one goes to is often limited to the pharmacies that ones insurance will accept as “in network”. Second, it is at the corporate level that a problem starts but you are either a nice person or you are not. Too often pharmacy employees will treat you well or not so nice depending on what you have a prescription for. High blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, and these types of medications and most often you are treated fine. However, if you bring in a prescription for a pain medication you might well be treated like a criminal. The pharmacy employees for the most part will talk to you in a derisive manner and you get a lot of “side eye” looks. I went to a Walgreen’s for over 20 years and thought I knew all of the employees well. Then when I was prescribed a pain med these “nice people”turned immediately into rude and judgemental people. Sure there are nice people in Walgreen’s but they are a rare breed if you hand them a prescription for a pain medication.

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I agree with you about CVS and Walgreens. They're nasty and incompetent. I have found a mom and pop pharmacy who are great. They call when I've run out of a drug without me asking. They have given me a few days worth of bp meds till my dr called in my script to hold me over. They know me by face, and are happy to help. You're right, insurance is insurance. I will NEVER go back to the big chains. They suck.

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Marv (# 1) --

CVS is managed by first class nut jobs. They have a policy that when the phone rings that it MUST be answered within 4 rings. It does not matter if you are ringing up a paying customer. So, their policy means that you should excuse yourself from accepting MONEY from a paying customer to answer a question from a phone call. This is the most insane policy that I have ever heard of. I used to instruct my people to ignore the phone if they had a paying customer in front of them and if it pissed off the person trying to call in that it was just too bad. If a person needs an answer to a question then they can get off their fat butts and come in or wait until a person has time to answer the phone. If they think that one should leave a paying customer to answer a phone they are out of their minds.

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Re: Marv (# 2)

My CVS nightmare began when my local mom and pop pharmacy closed. Had one prescription filled of vidodin. Arrived at home, lo and behold, script was missing 24 of my pills. It was awful... should've held up the line, stood at the counter and counted the damn things. I was dumbfounded and had no recourse, because I left and had no proof.
Count your pills folks before you leave.

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Here is the reason I have to go to CVS (which I don't like) BECAUSE my husband's employer has United HealthCare and the RX side of the health insurance is CAREMARK which is CVS. So CVS not only gets the insurance premiums, but they are the sole store that I can buy my prescriptions from. We are able to get one time scripts anywhere. But all regular meds have to be through CVS. So...they get the premium and all the sales to boot. And they sometimes butt in when they shouldn't. There outta be a law that they cannot be in the insurance business too as a conflict of interest.

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I go to CVS because my pm Dr. is out of the County, and it seems no one wants to fill those kinds of scripts. But I have no problem filling at CVS in my county. I walk in, hand the pharmacy tech my scripts, they all know me now. I sit down, wait about 10-15 minutes and walk out with my scripts. And my insurance pay's most of it. I got a small co-pay.....So, I feel once you get established with a good pharmacist, CVS or not and they get to know you and fill your scripts. Why change a good thing? If it's not broken, don't try to fix it!

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madashell (# 10) --

I had a simular situation happen to me at Walgreens several years ago. I went there with a script for 120 pervs, I got out to my car and counted them. There was only 100 in the bottle, the bottle was completely full, you couldn't of put anymore in it. So I went back into Walgreens and the proof was they couldn't get 120 in that bottle, so the pharmacist gave me the other 20. I believe he was going to keep them. His mistake was using to small of a bottle, and he probably didn't think I would count them. I've never filled there again. I probably should of turned him in. But I got all my meds and no damage done. They just lost my business. And I'm not a snich. I told my friends and they won't go there either.

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Re: Tim (# 20)

Reporting criminal activity that affects who only knows how many people is not SNITCHING. Is it okay for a pharmacist to steal but not okay to report this person? No one taking any form of pain medication should feel that they need to stand at the counter and count their pills to avoid being ripped off. If you had discovered this theft after you got home you would have just been shorted and that pharmacist would have committed this theft completely unhindered. Let me ever catch anyone stealing anything from anybody then I will have no problem reporting them. if that makes me a "snitch" then so be it.

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Re: Tim (# 20)

Yeah, it happens. I had an Rx filled at RiteAid. The pills were in a small bag with paperwork. I got home, opened the bag and there was only one bottle that said 1 of 2. I called RiteAid and they said to come back and they would fix it. Things is over a couple years I had a number of problems with RiteAid. Finally I went to Walgreens. I love it, my doctor calls the Rx in and when its ready Walgreens calls me. RiteAid never had my Rx's done in a timely manner. Walgreens is always done in a timely manner and so many other things they've been helpful with.

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Re: BiggerBrat (# 22)

I guess it is not the company but the employees. I have had a totally different experience with Walgreen’s. After having done business with Walgreen’s over 20 years and in two different States the relationship went South fast when I asked a question about why the quality of the Norco generics went suddenly so bad. The Watson brand generics were just fine. They were replaced by the “Actavis” brand and that brand is awful. The people at Walgreen’s told me to basically go pound sand if I did not like it. I never had a complaint in over 20 years with Walgreen’s then I ran across some surly, arrogant employee and I took my business elsewhere. Btw, my State law requires a hard copy every month for pain type medications. No phone ins are allowed. Also, many Doctors will not phone in or fax in a prescription for opioid based medications regardless of what the law says.

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Unfortunately, not every community has small pharmacies anymore. One local branch of a small pharmacy near me closed last year and shifted their business to CVS. There really is no other viable choice for most people. The third option that many low income people choose is Walmart. They have a pharmacy service which is comparable to others. I utilize Walgreens because they provide delivery as well and in the winter time that is a necessity considering where I live. Another factor to consider is that the evil in this equation is the at the corporate level, not at the local level. Most local stores are run by honorable people, all of whom need a job to live. They live in our communities, and we know them, and know that they are honest people. There may be a few bad apples now and again but they always get caught, fired, or move on. Bottom line is that the problem is at the corporate level, not below it. If change is to happen it must happen there.

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I prefer chains for a few reasons. My doctor calls in my scripts, hey refill automatically. They have a record online so if u move or switch pharmacies they still have all of my information. If I'm traveling and have a problem with meds while away I can go to the chain, explain the issues and I may be able to get those Meds while I'm away. I had numerous problems with Rite Aid but CVS has been perfect!

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Re: angelw (# 7)

If it was just a clerk, you are absolutely correct. However pharmacists have to have a clinical degree. But they are there to offer assistance not to override any Drs orders. I would tell them to mind their own business & if they have a problem, call your Dr.

I would not go back there again or request you talk to their supervisor or manager.

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Rite Aid and CVS are awful. Wallgreens is ok. In the small town I live in we don’t have any mom and pop pharmacies at all. In the city closest to me, the capital of this state, there is one but its hours aren’t workable for my schedule. Why do people insist on thinking everyone has the same options they have?

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Re: w john (# 27)

Do you know where your medicines come from? It can actually be something of a challenge to find out, because unlike shirts or apples, drugs do not have to be labeled with country of origin. As it turns out, over the past two decades, the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has followed the same route as many other industries. Now, experts estimate that about four-fifths of the medications we take were made in China or India.

A high proportion of these are generic drugs that the FDA has approved as equivalent to the brand name product. But how good is the quality control? FDA has limited ability and personnel to inspect manufacturing facilities in China.

A recent recall underscores the potential hazards. On July 5, 2018, the European Medicines Agency recalled the blood pressure pill valsartan made by the Zhejiang HuaHai Pharmaceutical Company in Linhai, China. Apparently the pills had been contaminated with a probable human carcinogen, NDMA. A week later, on July 13, 2018, the FDA followed suit and recalled valsartan alone or in combination with hydrochlorothiazide from Major Pharmaceuticals, Solco Healthcare and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

Does It Matter If Your Pills Were Made in China?

If Chinese companies suddenly stopped providing active pharmaceutical ingredients or finished pharmaceutical products to the US, the health care system would be in trouble within a short time. So many of our medicines are made in China that critical drug shortages would endanger lives.

Our guest describes how the business of making drugs for the US market has changed and what the implications are. What, if anything, should we health care consumers do to protect ourselves?

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Re: Eric (# 26)

You make some very good points and I shared a similar experience recently. I have been going to a small neighborhood pharmacy for almost 30 years. A few months ago, they closed their doors without telling the people depending on them. I received a letter the day after the store closed telling me all my information was transferred to a nearby Walgreens. I have had trouble with every prescription I have filled at Walgreens since then. Apparently the small family run neighborhood pharmacies are being forced out of business. Unknown to most consumers, there is a cap on the number of prescriptions a pharmacy can fill for controlled substances on a monthly basis. When Walgreens took over all the scripts from my pharmacy, no one thought to check if they would be able to fill all the new prescriptions that would be sent there. I have considered switching but I hear the same thing about all the “big name” pharmacies. I was shocked and felt betrayed by the owner and pharmacists I knew for years because I was in the day before they closed and everything looked the same as it usually did; no signs of closing the doors permanently.

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Re: w john (# 21)

You have to be careful when you get your prescriptions filled. One time I was getting my Norco filled at Walgreen's and I get 120 10/325 and when I got the prescription back they only had filled for 20 and it said no refills. I am glad I didn't leave the store before I noticed this. The pharmacist claims when he put the prescription through the machine it cut off part of the number so it was only showing 20 to be filled. This isn't the first time this has happened. So read and look at the prescription before you leave the store.

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