THE WORST PHARMACY EXPERIENCES I HAVE EVER HAD
My experience with the Walgreens pharmacy in Brookhaven, Mississippi, has become so consistently frustrating and unacceptable that I am changing both my pharmacy and my Medicare Part D insurance coverage because of it.
Let me be very clear: this is not a complaint about one bad experience. This is a recurring pattern of poor service, lack of preparedness, and incompetence that happens month after month.
I have standing prescriptions that I routinely fill every month. Yet on a regular basis, Walgreens does not have my medications in stock. I am told they have to order them, leaving me waiting for medication that I should be able to obtain on a predictable monthly schedule.
When the medication finally arrives, I have had my prescription partially filled because the medication was divided among other customers who needed the same medication. I understand that medication shortages can occur, but repeatedly leaving a customer without their complete prescription is unacceptable when this has become a recurring problem.
Then there is the insurance issue.
multiple times, I have received notifications through the Walgreens app claiming that one or more of my prescriptions are not covered by my insurance. My insurance information is already on file, and these are medications that have been covered by my insurance since January 1 of the same year.
So what am I required to do? I have to call Walgreens, navigate their automated phone system, listen to multiple prompts, explain the situation to a pharmacy employee, get placed on hold while they supposedly verify my insurance, and eventually get told:
"Yes, your insurance is active and the prescription is covered."
This happens repeatedly.
I also receive notifications telling me that I need a prior authorization (PA) for medications I have already been receiving since January 1. If I have been filling the same prescription for months, why am I suddenly being told in September that I need a PA?
These aren't minor inconveniences. These are medications. People depend on them.
And the customer service does not make the situation any better.
I have personally stood at the counter waiting for assistance while Walgreens employees have answered and carried on conversations on their personal cell phones. I consider that extremely rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional. When a customer is standing in front of you waiting for service, your personal phone should not take priority. It would be a different matter if it was the company phone; I am referring to personal cell phones.
What is particularly frustrating is that I have tried to be patient. I understand that pharmacies deal with insurance companies, drug shortages, prior authorizations, and complicated prescription systems. But I should not have to repeatedly do Walgreens' job for them.
I am a Medicare customer with a Part D prescription drug plan. Because I cannot simply change my Part D coverage whenever I want, I have to wait until the appropriate enrollment period at the end of the year.
But when that opportunity arrives, I will be changing my Medicare Part D coverage--and I will be changing pharmacies.
Walgreens has actually driven me to make that decision.
I don't want to spend another year repeatedly dealing with prescriptions that aren't ordered, incomplete fills, incorrect insurance notifications, unnecessary PA problems, and employees who appear more interested in their personal cell phones than serving the customer standing in front of them.
Walgreens has lost my trust, my business, and my loyalty.
A pharmacy should make obtaining necessary medications easier--not turn it into a monthly battle.
Brookhaven Walgreens: you can do better. Much better. And based on my experience, you need to.
Calvin Crane read more
