Dealing with modern pharmacy chains

[W2R]

I am 75 years old, and grew up with the stereotypical "kindly old pharmacist" who owned his own store down the street, knew me by name on sight, knew my medical history, and did a wonderful job for me. But times are changing and that kind of pharmacy seems to have been mostly replaced by modern chain pharmacies like Walgreens or CVS. I went with CVS at first.

About 10 years ago a local CVS drive-through accidently gave me a big bottle of methadone (instead of lisinopril for my blood pressure). I took it back but was very turned off that that could even happen, and immediately switched to Walgreens for all my medications. No problems until I was put on Ozempic, which I couldn't get from them more than once every 3-4 months but I figured that was due to the nationwide shortages.

But.... last August my doctor put me on insulin injections instead of Ozempic, and ever since then my Walgreens has been absolutely nightmarish! They will say it is too soon to refill, that my insurance doesn't cover it yet, that my insurance will never cover it so it will be almost a thousand dollars, that I have no more refills available to get, that they are out of insulin (!) and can't get any locally, any excuse that you can possibly imagine so that I can't get my insulin. This has gone on for three refills. Mostly I have had to deal with it by calling my doctor and getting him directly involved, but he has other things to do.

So anyway, I figured out a way to deal with my nightmarish Walgreens, and today it WORKED. What it took, was to switch to a different Walgreens (only about 2 miles away). Today we ordered my insulin online at 10 AM, and by noon Frank was able to pick up the correct amount of the correct insulin for the correct price after insurance at that Walgreen's drive through.

TL; DR is that just because they all say "Walgreens" doesn't mean you get the same quality service from their pharmacy. Just wanted to let you know in case it is helpful, plus I am feeling so jubilant I had to post about it.

(Also I found out a month or two ago that in New Orleans, I can get insulin syringes from Amazon without a prescription, so I don't have to fight with Walgreens over those either. Not true everywhere, though.)

 

[Walt34]

Finding a reasonably good pharmacy does seem to be a bit of a crapshoot. I've been through CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aide, a local "Mom & Pop" pharmacy that's been there since (literally!) the Civil War, and finally settled on the best of the lot which is at of all places, the local hospital's pharmacy. They actually answer the telephone, prescriptions are ready when they say they'll be, they have manners, and the staff is fluent in the English language.

Although I suspect it has a lot more to do with the managers and who does the hiring and firing of staff than it does with the chain.

 

[Car-Guy]

My DW takes insulin too and had very similar experiences. Our local (50 miles away) Walgreens is worse than CVS in my experience... Fortunately this year, we are not restricted to Walgreens and CVS, like we have been, and can use any pharmacy we want. The local mom and pop pharmacy (20 miles away) is great. BTW, the DW uses the "insulin pens" and much, much, much more prefers them.

I think the drug insurance companies make the problem much worse so there's plenty of blame to share between them.

 

[W2R]

Finding a reasonably good pharmacy does seem to be a bit of a crapshoot. I've been through CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aide, a local "Mom & Pop" pharmacy that's been there since (literally!) the Civil War, and finally settled on the best of the lot which is at of all places, the local hospital's pharmacy. They actually answer the telephone, prescriptions are ready when they say they'll be, they have manners, and the staff is fluent in the English language.

Although I suspect it has a lot more to do with the managers and who does the hiring and firing of staff than it does with the chain.

Excellent! I suspect you are right about the managers. Nobody competent would put up with the terrible pharmacy staff at my old Walgreens. For some reason, I had assumed that all Walgreens would have the same minimum standards, but apparently not.

 

[W2R]

My DW takes insulin too and had very similar experiences. Our local (50 miles away) Walgreens is worse that CVS in my experiance... Fortunately this year, we are not restricted to Walgreens and CVS, like we have been, and can use any pharmacy we want. The local mom and pop pharmacy (20 miles away) is great.

That's great to know! I think there is ONE independent mom 'n' pop pharmacy in our entire Parish (=County), about 2 miles from us, so if this Walgreens lets me down then I'll give it a try.

Or after reading Walt's post maybe I'll try to find out if the big hospital a mile from us has a pharmacy, never thought about that as a possibility.

 

[braumeister]

Sounds a lot like buying a car. You can specify your favorite brand and model, but every dealership will treat you differently. People have learned to shop around among car dealers, and it appears pharmacies are getting the same way.

 

[REWahoo]

Sounds a lot like buying a car. You can specify your favorite brand and model, but every dealership will treat you differently. People have learned to shop around among car dealers, and it appears pharmacies are getting the same way.

^ This.

The CVS nearest us has a pharmacist that reminds me of the "Soup Nazi" from Seinfeld. It only took one encounter with her before we quickly moved on.

We've had good luck with the pharmacies at our two nearest HEB stores. They are both managed by the same person which, as pointed out above, is likely the reason they have similar positive performance.

 

[CardsFan]

We get most of our scripts (90 day supply) through mail order (DW has 1 that is half the price at a non-preferred CVS pharmacy, go figure). Have used both ExpressScripts and CVS Caremark with virtually no problems. I assume that is not available for insulin.

That said, I have to say all of the Walgreen's and CVS's we have used have been pretty good as far as service and being cordial.

So, yeah, I think the local management makes the difference.

 

[Jerry1]

I just moved my prescriptions from Walgreens to a local owned pharmacy. Walgreens was okay, but they kept wording my meds automatically. I tried four times to get them to turn off automatic ordering and they were just incapable of doing so. The straw that broke the camels back was when they order one of my prescriptions and I realized it was 10 pills, instead of 30. I didn't realize this until I got to the store and the copay was different than usual. I asked them why there were only 10 pills and they told me they were trying to get my prescriptions lined up so they get refilled all at the same time. Given that I was already upset because they auto refilled the prescription, to fine out I made a trip to the store because they were helping me out just set me off and I moved my prescriptions.

The new pharmacy is great. I picked up a prescription refill and dropped off another one but they did not have it. No problem, they delivered it to my house the next day. When I need a refill, I call and get an actual human that answers the phone - no automated answer, a direct picking up of the phone. Plus, when I'm there, what I see is a number of people working hard and the cash register has never had a line of more than a couple people who were all being taken care of simultaneously (e.g., while on clerk was looking for a prescription for one person, another clerk was helping another).

The auto refill makes some sense, but my prescriptions fluctuate and it just wasn't working for me. Why they couldn't just stop was beyond my comprehension. So much for Walgreens.

 

[freedomatlast]

I only have one inexpensive prescription, and I get it from CostPlus mail order. That way I don't have to deal with anyone and the shipping is fast.

 

[RetMD21]

I saw this difference between two Walgreens myself. At one a family member was told some sort of nonsense about getting an EpiPen and basically sent away. It was totally different at a different store. They apologized for not having it in stock immediately and making her wait a couple of days. The quality of the individuals working at the store matters.

 

[N02L84ER]

We don't have many prescriptions, but tend to use the Sam's Club pharmacy when we do get one because it is closest to our house.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I'm on the verge of switching away from my local CVS. My current thinking is to try the local Walmart, but I'm not sure yet. I need to research my options a little. My insurance doesn't let me use Walgreens for some reason. So I won't even be looking at them.

This CVS is just not a good experience. My doctor just switched me from Trulicity to Mounjaro last month. We started with a one-month supply to make sure the switch worked out ok for me. It did. The doctor did not put in the original prescription with any refills since he thought he might need to adjust the dosage.

My CVS online account told me "It is time to refill your Mounjaro prescription". So, I had my doctor send over the new prescription to fill with 3 refills. Then my online account says, we will schedule this for <2 days out> because of your insurance guidelines. So why was CVS prompting me to refill it?

Anyway, the prescription sat in "waiting mode" for 2 days. Then on Friday, when my insurance was ready to accept a refill, CVS didn't have it in stocks. So they updated my status to "we have ordered it". So they didn't order it while it sat there waiting. They could have had it in stock by the time it was refillable, but now I'm waiting on it even longer. I go thru this type of issue almost every month with them.

I understand there is a supply shortage of this medicine. However, I also understand that the CVS processes are not optimized to deal with this well. They also do not have enough storage in that pharmacy to order any significant supply of it. The pharmacy is an absolute mess of filled prescriptions waiting for pickup. In bins all over the shelves, floor, counters, etc. The staff is generally rude. I'm sure they get beat up a lot by customers due to the many issues customers face, so they respond with rudeness. I get it. Customer service is rough business. But Corporate CVS is a huge cause of these issues.

Anyway... rant over. Hopefully I can find a better experience for me.

 

[W2R]

I'm on the verge of switching away from my local CVS. [...]Hopefully I can find a better experience for me.

Wow, that's terrible! I had no idea that anybody else was going through pharmacy battles like me. I'd definitely switch, if I were you, though I don't know what to suggest for your next pharmacy. Hopefully this thread will help in your decision.

 

[target2019]

CVS Caremark mail order works ok for me. Refilled on Friday, dropped off today by UPS.

Online systems are sometimes quirky.

 

[jollystomper]

Sounds a lot like buying a car. You can specify your favorite brand and model, but every dealership will treat you differently. People have learned to shop around among car dealers, and it appears pharmacies are getting the same way.

A lot depends on where the pharmacy chain store in located and the density of customers around it.

We use a CVS just a few miles from our home, in a relatively low population area. Never an issue with them getting the order wrong. In fact, sometimes they have "stealthily" helped us get the best price on a prescription. The only issue is that it can take a while to fill in a walk in prescription, about 30-40 minutes. But they are so close that it is not that big a deal.

There is another one, about 15 minutes away, in a more densely populated town/small city. It is open 24 hours and near a hospital, so we have used it at times when someone in the family ended up in the emergency room and was prescribed something that we wanted to get right away. That one has problems in accuracy and sometimes telling us "in will be ready in 15 minutes" and then taking more than an hour. But, it is busier, so that is not much of a surprise.

Location, location, location...

 

[pacergal]

Prior to switching to Kaiser, we used a local Rite Aid pharmacy. I loved them--the pharmacist there had worked there for years, he knew me, my daughter, our family histories, etc. It was very nice.

Kaiser so far has been wonderful. We do mail order, they contact us prior to refills due, click a button on the reminder message, and it's ordered! 3 months at a time, it is nice.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Absolutely the same experience with CVS here. Our nearest one is almost exactly one mile away. Very convenient....except they are also horrible to deal with. Another three miles down the same road is another CVS that is communicative, pleasant, and somehow never disappoints. They tried to get my spouse's Ozempic when it was almost impossible to find, and usually did, on time. Luckily, there's a Walgreens even closer than our local CVS (the poorly run one), which is what I use for vaccinations, although our pharmacy plan is Caremark (CVS).

 

[folivier]

Yes, it's about local management. Once I went into a CVS and while waiting saw a few of the Rx techs eating their lunch at their station while their neighbor was filling Rx's. Nope! haven't been back to that one since.
Costco has been beating prices so that's our go to.
BTW in high school I worked for a local pharmacy. Had lots of fun and even thought about becoming a pharmacist. But could see that the industry was changing.

 

[easysurfer]

I remember when I got my shingles vaccination. Went to Walgreens for 1st. When was time for 2nd shot, they told me they were out. I ended up just going to another pharmacy about a block away. No problem they had the vaccine.

 

[RetMD21]

Costco has been beating prices so that's our go to.
BTW in high school I worked for a local pharmacy. Had lots of fun and even thought about becoming a pharmacist. But could see that the industry was changing.

I don't think it's a great time to be a pharmacist.

 

[Healthy Lifestyle]

I recently was disappointed when I went to my local CVS for a flu shot which my PCP recommended, since the Doctor's office stopped giving vaccines.

The Pharmacist had no personality (more like a robot) and seemed to be in a great hurry to get rid of me. Now I am disappointed that my Doctor's office stopped giving any vaccines and recommended I go to a pharmacy.

 

[ModestNestEgg]

I've been quite pleased with a smaller, local pharmacy that I've used for probably 10 years now. While there's some turnover in staff due to hiring younger people who are in school and working the job part-time, everyone is quite friendly and helpful.

That said, there are some things that are harder to find there, such as mobility supplies that I need for an older relative and some other supplies like finger oxygen monitors. In those cases, I go with a local Walgreens, but I've noticed in my area that particular store seems to have happier and more courteous staff than CVS. Just don't try to call Walgreens (I don't know about CVS) because you will encounter a phone tree nightmare and maybe get someone on the phone in 15 minutes if you're lucky!

I think some of that boils down to the company not treating their employees so well and that translates into how enthusiastic they are on their job and trickles down to how well they treat their customers. I'm sympathetic to that although it makes me nervous knowing that and knowing that a mistake in filling the wrong prescription/amount could be really detrimental in some cases. In many cases, it's the company leadership that's to blame and they really need to do better as much profit as they are most likely making.

The only other downside, at least dealing with my particular locally owned pharmacy, is that they tend to have to order more specialized prescriptions. There was one instance when I needed a prescription pretty quickly and ordering it would have taken two days so the local pharmacy suggested transferring the prescription to one of the chains. I reluctantly did that, dealt with the surly staff there, but at least I got my prescription without waiting two days and having my health issue possibly get worse. But was really nice to come back to my locally owned pharmacist the next time!

 

[Gotadimple]

The chains (CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Walmart, Kroger) are all having difficulty coming out of Covid. Rite-Aid is currently in bankruptcy protection (closing it's stores and stores it acquired as Bartells (Washington state), and both CVS and Walgreens are closing stores, and transferring prescriptions to other stores/other chains when they close. So it's a frustrating time. Local pharmacy management creates the experience for the patient, and some are well-managed and others just need to close the door.

I have had good response and welcoming service at a pharmacy inside a grocery store (Safeway). That said Safeway and it's parent company Albertsons are merged with Kroger stores (maybe if there is no state/federal objection). That will result in more store closings.

Pack your patience, locate smaller pharmacies that aren't run like assembly lines where they have more than 45 seconds to answer a question. They are trying but their situation just doesn't allow it.

- Rita

 

[gailwinters]

We have used Walmart Pharmacy for the past ten years, and have been very pleased with the service we get. My DH had a new prescription last year which was $75 under our insurance and the Pharmacy Tech said let me check GoodRX, where it was $25. (I was shocked to find that prescription is zero cost in 2024!)

We always got our flu, pneumonia, covid, and shingles shots at CVS, but it became a hassle. We always had to wait, because that CVS had a very small staff. The past two years we have used Walmart, with no issues, prompt service and given by the pharmacist, not a tech.

We actually picked a more expensive Part D plan for 2024 so that we could remain at Walmart.