CVS Consumer Reviews - Page 6

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS -- I recently had such an unbelievable and unpleasant experience at store #7306 that I will not shop at that store – or most likely any other CVS store – again. I used one of the photo machines to print some holiday cards. The clerk had told me that envelopes were included with the cost of the prints, but when my order was complete, she could not find any envelopes that were the right size (These envelopes are an uncommon size and are not available at many stores.). At this point, it was a minor problem that could have been easily resolved, in which case you would not be hearing from me.

The clerk referred me to Maggie, the store manager. Maggie came across as clueless and rude – no smile, no apology, no offer to do anything to help. After I explained to her that I did need envelopes to go with the cards and had printed $30 worth of cards with that in mind, she agreed to order some envelopes. She said that if they were available, she would get them in a week and would notify me. And if they weren't available, she would then order some from another store.

A few days later I stopped by the store to ask Maggie if she could skip the step of waiting for a week before ordering the envelopes from another store (I needed to mail my cards before then. It also seemed reasonable to me that the envelopes should be in stock for other customers printing holiday cards.)

The first thing she said to me was, rudely, “I said I'd call you.” After I explained that I would not be able to wait a week or longer, she did find some envelopes, from packets of invitations that she opened. Again, her attitude throughout the process was rude and disrespectful: no smile, no apology, no “you're welcome” after I thanked her. No offer to put the envelopes in a bag – she simply handed me 38 envelopes and walked away.

Your store manager made her resentment of me very clear. Rather than acknowledge that as a customer I was justified in expecting the envelopes that were supposed to come with the cards, she acted as if she were doing me a huge and undeserved favor. Unless this is the attitude you intend to convey to CVS customers, Maggie has no business representing CVS as an employee, least of all as a manager.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA -- Staring in frustrated silence at the seasonal aisle, my thoughts wandered… 'Are there really no Halloween spider web decorations a week before Halloween? And, why are there tons of Christmas decorations? Is anyone putting out the Christmas decorations before Christmas? Boy this is a pain. Should I ask for assistance? No that will mean waiting forever. Boy that line is long…it just isn't worth the time. I'm outta here...'

Is CVS just an unmanned ship or does it really have a management team asleep at the helm? The bad customer service engineered by management is just a series of small never-ending annoyances made evident by ordinary stores such as Giant, Safeway and Ace Hardware that work reasonably well. One week before Halloween there are plenty of Christmas decorations but I guarantee the store will run out of plain white Christmas lights three weeks before Christmas. Yet they will likely carry ugly rainbows of red, green, yellow and blue bulbs well into Arbor Day.

Somewhere a village is missing an idiot because CVS is interviewing them for manager. The recruiter's challenge is to find one dumb enough so that a lobotomy can raise their intelligence. It won't be until the stock craters due to mismanagement and some corporate raider like Kirk Kerkorian buys the carcass that any real improvement will happen.

If you are an investor, stay out of this stock. None of this is "life changing", but I am going to be genuinely pissed off when this all comes to pass and some corporate stooge blubbers on television about how his/her job is being eliminated and s/he can't afford to send the kids to the orthodontist. You were warned and didn't fix anything. This is your fate. Now that the store is open 24x7, it just sucks 24x7. We often save errands and brave traffic in Northern Virginia to find better service, selection and treatment.

Yes there are a few nice employees but they have less of an opportunity to fix things than that little Dutch boy with finger-in-dyke. Their world can never get better without competent management nor overcome the antagonized customers that have been created by their management policies. This complaint isn't about this one trip down the aisle. This store has been a disappointment for several years (since it was first opened).

I went in CVS on 9-12-09 to return an item I had bought with ExtraCare Bucks and cash. Mai **, the Asian cashier who was working the counter, asked me, "Is there something wrong with it?" I said, "No", but I found it cheaper somewhere else. (Yes I looked at her name tag because she was Asian and so am I. It was my first time ever to see an Asian cashier at CVS).

She then looked at my receipt and said she can only gives me the cash that I paid, the ECB will be lost. I told her that it's supposed to go on a store credit or CVS money card. At this point she said, 'No, no, no, you can only get back this amount' and showed me the last line of the transaction which said 'change'. Well, first of all, she was wrong, because for some reason she was saying I can get back my change. I think she read the wrong line on the receipt.

Of course I disagreed and told her, 'No I am supposed to get store credit for the ECB. Your manager can do it.' She then talked to the female manager. She showed the manager my receipt and said, 'the customer is supposed to get only this back, right?' and pointed out the wrong line that said "CHANGE". The manager corrected the cashier and said no, it's this amount (the right one). Then she told me 'we do not give store credit for ECB'. I said, 'that is not true'. She didn't listen to me and said 'no, it's our policy'.

At this point they both looked at me like I was some criminal who wanted to rip them off. They were both talking at the same time to me telling me no we can't give you store credit and our store policy is like this, blah blah blah. So I said never mind and left.

Then later that day I went to Mission Valley to do some shopping and I went to the other CVS store near there and returned the item. They gave me store credit for it, no problem. The lady cashier there was better. She knows how to do her job and was nice to me. She also went to her manager and asked him to make sure but it went smoothly. It's such a hassle to shop at CVS, I'm never going back there again. P.S. my sister who was with me said it was reverse discrimination. I've never heard that before but there's a first for everything.

SUMMERFIELD, NORTH CAROLINA -- My wife joined the CVS team in October of 2008 as a Nationally Certified Pharmacy Tech but to CVS she was just a cashier. Their excuse for not using her skills as a pharmacy tech and paying her as one was she had to complete the CVS training before she could work as a pharmacy tech, CVS controls your training and to hold you back they just simply don't send you to training. She worked as a cashier and then one day she was short a few dollars on her register and they put her on "cash control", anything over 3 dollars short or over requires cash control. They took her off cash control a month later.

A month or so later she was short a few dollars again, then they suspended her two days and then brought her back, paid her for her suspension days and put her on cash control again, then last Sunday she was short a few dollars again, just four days before her cash control was up again and they terminated her after making her wonder about her employment or lack of for two days.

Realistically she was not their idea of a CVS employee, she is a insulin dependent diabetic and missed some time due to her sugar levels. So now we are without health insurance and we are both diabetics, they never gave her her 6 month raise, held her in a cashier position rather than what she was trained for, they used unqualified personnel as pharmacy techs and basically accused her of stealing less than 20 dollars over a period of months. They were looking for a reason and as humans sometimes do she made some mistakes and gave them their reason.

She worked for Walgreens for 4 years with no problems, also with a health insurance provider for the medicare part D program, approving prescriptions in accordance to the published formula with no problems, but failed to withstand the pressure from the Devil of Pharmaceutical Retailers CVS. Unkind, uncaring, underpaying corporation known as CVS will still thrive because they know this type of approach to employees has little impact on their bottom line. Stepping on the little person means absolutely nothing to CVS. However it is the little guy that pay their bills and they are welcomed with open arms provided you do not work for them.

NEW CUMBERLAND, PENNSYLVANIA -- I have had nothing but problems with CVS pharmacy since the day my Doctor called in with the first prescription. I dropped off my diabetes medication and 2 days later I was told my insurance didn't cover this Med and I would have to have my doctor call in a new type. When I asked if they had let him know I was told no, they didn't do that. Three other customers waiting there were upset about basically the same thing. They do nothing to help their customers. The one lady pharmacist who help myself and my daughter was just plain rude and unprofessional. The reason for this is not because of just lazy or poor customer service.

CVS filled two prescriptions last week for me. Both were carried in on a hand written prescription pads due to the governmental control of both products. One prescription was made out to me for 5mg Dexedrine which I take 3 times a day for ADHD and the other was also hand written to my son for 20mg Adderall which he take 2 times a day for the same issues. Both medications are very highly regulated and both are stimulants. When the prescriptions were picked up, my daughter she was told my prescription was not filled because it was to soon but there were 2 for my son Donald.

They had filled both of the prescriptions in Don's name. How any professional Pharmacist could make this mistake is far beyond my understanding of how these were dispensed because supposedly they are all checked and double checked. They didn't even get the name right. Had my son continued taking this medication as prescribed, he may be dead today. I went 4 days without my meds thinking someone either taken them or a mistake was made at the pharmacy.

The number 1 caution on both of the medication sheets is sudden death, stoke, increased blood pressure, fast heart rate, tremors, headaches and it goes on and on. When Don told me he wasn't feeling well after taking his new meds I went to get the bottle to call the doctor and this is when I found out the mistake CVS had made.

DALLAS, TEXAS -- It is the beginning of the year and so if you have a flex spending account it starts over right? And that money is YOUR money right? Well I had a horrible experience that still has yet to be resolved and I am thinking of taking it to the media. I had been given a discount card for a medication by my Dr. The regular co pay is $50 without it but with it, it is $15. My flex spending is streamlined with my health/prescriptions so that I have no co pays until my flex spending money runs out. So I was a little confused when I was asked to pay the $15. I had been waiting a while and there was a line so I reluctantly paid and left.

A week or two later I got a EOB (explanation of benefits) from my Flex Spending telling me they had paid the pharmacy via auto draft (automatically) that day for $50 as well. So basically they got paid twice for the same medication! When I called Aetna they said to call CVS. The store was unhelpful and told me call corporate office. They were worse! After several calls and a conference call with two personnel from Aetna, myself and a CVS representative they said to fax the proof and they would review the situation and decide if they would reimburse me. THEY SAID NO !

Their reason was I should have known that was going to happen and should be familiar with how my benefits work. And a two weeks later a girl from my work had the same thing happen at the same CVS location with a different medication that had a coupon. Sounds like CVS is making a lot of money off simple mistakes. Anyone who has had this problem please file a complaint with the State Board of Pharmacy, especially in the state of Texas. Innocent hard working people are getting ripped off and it is not right! They know they were overpaid and don't care about the customer.

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA -- I went to the CVS store on 41st Street on Miami Beach today (02/13/09) and received the worst customer service I have experienced in a long time. I have had a few bad experiences in the past but always gave them the benefit of the doubt. Today, I asked for help with some "family planning" items that were locked up and a young lady was very nice and helped me in an efficient manner. When I was done I asked her if I can check out at the pharmacy since the line was quite long in the main entrance and I wanted to go out through the other door anyway. She said "no problem, they are open".

When I got back to the pharmacy, the pharmacist was helping another customer and I waited in line. When it was my turn, I went up and the pharmacist (Ricardo **) told me to go to the front counter. I asked him why and that he just helped the previous customer. He told me he was busy and did not have time to help me. I was shocked and said "isn't the customer more important" and he said no he is not a cashier and to go upfront. I proceeded to ask him for the manager and he told me he was the manager. I told him to give his boss's name and he was reluctant but now there were people watching so he gave it to me and gave more attitude.

That is when, unfortunately, I got vulgar and told him he had no manners and he was part of the reason why this country was in the trouble it was in and walk away. I will never go to CVS again and I will make sure to tell as many people as possible.

GOLDSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA -- A "D" or an "F" for tobacco products (cigars specifically) at local CVS pharmacy. I should stop buying cigars at the CVS in Goldsboro, NC. There one CVS store here. It is located on Wayne Memorial. Store has an impressive display of cigars. Unfortunately, caveat emptor is in full force here.

Macanudo Ascots, around $16, were my choice of purchase the last week of November of this year. The Cigars were old. There is 10 Ascots to a box. Macanudos are very high-rated smokes imported from the Caribbean. I personally smoke only cigars and I smoke many. All I smoke are 100% cigars, which is an important factor relating to the problem of quality. Note: It is a policy of store not to refund for tobacco products.

Tonight, I decided to try my luck once more at the same store. I bought a box of Cohiba Miniatures. Cohibas are also a highly-rated cigar manufacturer and are imported from the Dominican Republic. Cohiba "palmas" cost up to as much as fifty dollars and higher (Palmas is an industry term for larger cigars such as Churchills). The Cohibas I buy or bought today are a type of sampler, miniature or little cigars. A box of 10 at the CVS here is around ten dollars. I live in North Carolina.

Both the ascots and the miniatures were a disappointment because the cigars were dried out, old, or both. I don't believe that the other cigars sold at the store are as problematic. By the "other cigars" I mean cigars that are NOT all tobacco. You can look at a carton of Phillies, as an example, and on the side is a label. The label states that non-tobacco ingredients are present in the cigar. Cigars like that should (I think) have a longer shelf life than cigars made of 100% tobacco. But the predominantly-tobacco cigars also are over-extended. I have bought them in the past at the same CVS store.

Drug stores, as we all know, have been offering cigars and even beer in some stores. It is a nicety but there is nothing nice about wasting even $5 on cigars when the quality is questionable. If I want to gamble I will play the lottery. Merry Christmas everybody, and don't take home any wooden nickels. They aren't worth anything.

MENTOR, OHIO -- The most harmful things the bullies in this particular pharmacy did were to attempt to demean, intimidate, humiliate, accuse and provoke me on a regular basis. Most recently a manager began and continued harassing me until the point she had disengaged me from production. While now in a discussion with a counter between us, she leaned across the counter and thrust her hand toward my face.

I naturally reacted by abruptly moving her hand from coming any closer in which case she would have made contact. She threw me out and I was suspended until further notice by phone 2 days later. The manager accused me of assault in the incident, which was verbally discounted by the union representative. The incident took place on video surveillance, which, ironically, turned up missing! How fortunate for the manager and CVS.

I have been emotionally and financially devastated. The union did very little to protect me but to negotiate reinstatement with a transfer to another location further from my home where I have least seniority where there are only approximately 28 hours available and they are trying to "cut someone loose".

They further require me to sign an incriminating employer release that I agree to the decision and findings (whatever those were). I am denied unemployment, earned vacation and sick pay. The employees at that location had until 9/8/08 been telling patients and others that I was fired for hitting the manager in the face. As I was told by a concerned patient who contacted me at my home.

Much of the bullying and certainly this incident in this stems, in my opinion, from my bringing the matter of insurance fraud to the pharmacist and the manager - as well as co-worker abuse including the two of them which is all in direct conflict with the CVS code of ethics.

Additionally, in the past I had expressed my concerns and opinion of allowing a five year old, the son of an employed technician into the pharmacy counting and filling medication (which 2 employees quit because of) that was later dispensed as well as medication errors and poor treatment of patients by my co-workers for no apparent reason. All swept under the rug by management and union. In fact, during a recent phone conversation with the district pharmacy supervisor I was told, "It's not that you reported the fraud - but rather how you said it".

I have not been able to sleep since the incident and have been physically and emotionally ill. I have or will have lost all medical benefits and as of today... I still hold employee status. They are getting away with it and have for more than one year, and the union enables them to do so.

LITTE ELM, TEXAS -- When the prescription the pharmacist gave me so much trouble about was presented, first the pharmacy filled the prescription then sort of dangled it out there and wouldn't let me have it. It was for my wife, who had waited in the car while I went inside to get it filled. The pharmacist began to play detective with me, and at first I didn't know what it was all about. The excuse was that I had too much medication. I didn't argue, and thought it could be cleared up if they just talked to the wife about it.

So, when my wife came inside, the pharmacist (I'm supposing this person was a pharmacist) implied she was doctor shopping, and it was explained to them that the reason the name of the doctor had changed was because she sees whomever is available at the office where, just as is common practice a pharmacy person would certainly be aware.

It was after hours, as any pharmacist would also know, you aren't likely to get in touch with a regular office type doctor after hours to inquire why they would write a prescription. At any rate, the pharmacist person rejected any notion that we had credibility and demanded that the wife go home and get the previously prescribed medication and give it to them before providing us with the newly prescribed substitute.

Well, we told them we weren't going to do that, so they withheld the medication. The explanation was something about the law. I'm wondering just exactly how they think law enforcement and pharmacology are meted out together. I'm sorry, I don't have any illusions that there will be anything done, or this person will see things in a different light. Maybe though, someone will benefit from my experience, and I'll have expressed my opinion.