I came to this pharmacy because a doctor of mine has an office located right down the street at Abington Hospital, and I try to avoid chain pharmacies (and support small businesses) when possible, as I've noted in several other reviews. Unfortunately, this proved to be one of the most horrific experiences I've encountered in any retail establishment in recent memory. The pharmacist with whom I dealt treated me from the outset with a nasty, unpleasant attitude, and things went downhill from there. He looked at my prescription (which was for a controlled substance) with outright suspicion, and I knew right then and there I was going to have a problem with this guy. Since I'd never been to this pharmacy before, of course he had to double-check the script with my doctor's office to make sure it was legitimate. Fine. Since I was in the process of switching insurance companies and my old policy had been cancelled before my new one took effect, I was technically without coverage and when asked told him because of the situation I had to pay out of pocket. Fine. I was told to wait.
After at least twenty minutes spent browsing in another part of the (empty) pharmacy, I was called back to speak to the pissy pharmacist. Apparently, he'd checked with the insurance company whose policy I'd just canceled, but because they hadn't yet updated their records, I still showed in their system as "active", so he accused me of lying about not having insurance, and refused to fill the prescription. All of this was accompanied by a surly and completely disrespectful attitude; he refused to listen as I again attempted to explain the situation. Why he went to such lengths to find out the insurance company with which I had the old policy--how he got this information is a mystery, as I hadn't told him--and check with them is totally beyond me, but as said, this guy clearly didn't like me from the get-go and made no secret he was convinced I just had to be lying or was being dishonest about *something*. I'm a clean-cut guy and like to think I maintain a pleasant appearance and friendly attitude toward others. However, I was utterly taken aback by the whole situation, and told him to just return the script (I really, REALLY also wanted to tell him what he could do with it, but suppressed the urge-I just wanted to get the hell out of there) and that I'd fill it elsewhere. As I walked out I vowed NEVER to return.
I proceeded to drive to the shopping center across the street to Rite Aid where, surprisingly, the pharmacist on duty was pleasant, understood my issue about being in-between policies (I made sure that was the first thing I told her), and since I was already in Rite Aid's system, she was able to see the problem. Great! The store wasn't too busy and my medication was ready in less than 10 minutes. As I went to reach for my wallet, I realized with a sinking feeling that it wasn't in my pocket. After panicking for a moment, I realized it had to be at Abington Pharmacy, which of course meant I'd have to return, despite my recently made vow never to do so. This was my wallet, though, so obviously it was a vow that necessitated breaking. Just to be certain I had, in fact, left it there, I called and a woman-not the evil pharmacist, thank g-d-answered. I asked if anyone had seen my wallet, and if so, would they mind setting it aside while I went back to retrieve it? She refused to even check, letting me know in so many words if I wanted to see if it was there, I'd have to come back and "look for myself."
WTF?!? I couldn't believe what was going on and honestly began to wonder if I was being punk'd. Anyway, I returned to the pharmacy from hell out of necessity, and my wallet was sitting on the pharmacy's counter, untouched. Evil Pharmacist must have been on a break, thankfully, because as I went to retrieve the wallet (no one even asked me what I was doing or why) I didn't see him. Armed with my wallet, I left as quickly as possible, drove back to Rite Aid, paid for the prescription, and went home. It took at least two hours to calm myself down from the entire experience. Part of me wanted to call and speak to a manager or owner regarding the treatment I received, but figured if he or she hired and kept on staff such incredibly miserable people, they wouldn't give two cents about any complaint of mine. So I did nothing. Thankfully Yelp enables me to share my horror story, warn other innocent souls about the place, and let potential patrons know to avoid coming here at all costs. read more
