Rite Aid Pharmacy Consumer Reviews - Page 2

ONTARIO, OREGON -- I recently switch to the Rite Aid pharmacy due to a gift card offer they were advertising and have numerous problems ever since. I have been given, charged and eventually refunded for a medication that was not mine. I had been told my physician was not authorizing my medications and when I called my physician, they had already sent over the required documentation.

Most recently, I have had an experience that has caused me to terminate my relationship with Rite Aid. I called in my pain medication refill and was told that they had not received authorization from my physician. Since it was Friday and did not look like my physician was going to respond, the pharmacist suggested that they fill a prescription for a pain medication that I had on file and had not used for a few months, until they could get the authorization from my physician on Monday. I agreed and paid for the medication.

The following Wednesday, I was informed that the Pharmacist was concerned that I would take both medications and felt he needed to consult with my physician due to this OR I could bring the pain medication that he filled on Friday in to him and he would give me the pain medication that I originally was needing.

He then informed me that he could not credit me for the unused medication that he was requiring me to return to him before he would give me the other medication. I am a 40 year old male that does not require parental oversight. I truly feel that the Rite Aid pharmacy financially took advantage of me, to say the least, and I question this request to return the medication. I shared this with the Pharmacist and he became rude and started over talking me.

I informed him I wanted all my prescriptions transferred back to my original pharmacy and he informed me he would not do this and I would have to call my physician and request all of them again. I switched back to my pharmacy and they called the Rite Aid Pharmacist and were informed that I did not have any pain medication order on file. Very Mean Spirited and I really feel unethical.

COLLEGE POINT NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- I take Dilantin for a seizure disorder. Now even though I have insurance, I prefer to purchase the meds right out so that I can get a sealed bottle of 100. As you probably know, through insurance you only get the exact dose you take, in my case that would be 2x daily which comes to 60 pills per month. I like to have extra on hand in case some are not good or I misplace them which years ago I lost a pill case with about 12 in it. Now my medicine is very important to take daily, because skipping doses can bring on life threatening seizures called status epilleticus, which can be fatal.

What I like to do and have been doing since 1982, is to keep one bottle ahead meaning that for every 100 that I use, I always have another 100 on hand. The problem has been recently that when I finish a bottle, I bring the empty one to the store and they are supposed to fill it according to the label, like 2 refills left, one left and so on. When I reach no refills left, I am due to see my neurologist for a checkup and a new prescription. I see him 2x per year.

Since he enters the prescription into his computer and sends it to the store, I guess to go "paperless" as they say nowadays, I was informed by the pharmacist that everything is in the system, just call and prescription is filled. But that is not the case. Every time I get a new bottle, it has conflicting info on the label. Example, one bottle read "80.0 units or pills left till July 2014", another said, "one refill left till August 2014." Now which is right, July or August? I was told that he would have to call my doctor for a new prescription. He did and now the new bottle reads, "2 refills left until October 2014." Yet the bottle I am working on now reads "1 refill until August 2014."

What will happen when I bring in that bottle? Will I be told that I already have that prescription as it has happened in the past, and will they fill the order using one of the October 2014 refills, supposedly short changing me meaning another call to the doctor for a new prescription way before my summer appointment which is in August.

By the way, my winter appointment is in February. I cannot see my doctor making all these mistakes on his end. I believe something is "Rotten in Rite Aid" and I will probably look into the matter further. At one time I had a pharmacist there who was very reliable. I am now seriously considering switching pharmacies because of this. Enough said.

FRESNO, CALIFORNIA -- I had 2 prescriptions refilled at the Rite Aid on Cedar Ave in Fresno. One for Lovastatin (cholesterol) & the other was Lisinopril (hypertension). The next morning when I opened the bottles I noticed the pills appeared to be exactly the same in each bottle. I took them back to the pharmacy & informed them that they had made a mistake & had given me 2 prescriptions of the same medication. The gentleman working in the pharmacy examined the tablets from each bottle & assured me that no mistake had been made & the tablets were indeed different from one another.

Over the next week I took both prescription medications as prescribed. I began having terrible pain, tingling, burning & swelling in my left arm & neck area, and a few days later, my feet & ankles were swollen & painful, too. I couldn't sleep without elevating my arm. The pain was unbearable & I thought perhaps I was having heart problems. My wife still suspected the prescriptions so I dumped both bottles of tablets out & examined them. I found that the Lisinopril bottle had only 8 Lisinopril tablets and all the rest were Lovastatin!

We immediately called the pharmacy & again explained their error. The pharmacy clerk told us again that no mistake had been made and it would have been impossible for them to make a mistake like this. Our concern fell on deaf ears with a complete denial of fault! I called my personal physician & he had me come in. He wrote another prescription for Lisinopril which I filled at a different pharmacy, and within just a day or so, the burning & pain began to lessen.

I HAD been taking double doses of Lovastatin all along! Rite Aid had given me Lovastatin in my Lisinopril bottle. My concern with this pharmacy was not that they had made a mistake, but their absolute refusal to look into it and accept responsibility for it. Needless to say, I filed a complaint with the State of California Pharmacy Board, mailing them photos of the tablets.

RAMONA, CALIFORNIA -- This is a copy of the letter I sent to Rite Aid on June 4, 2008: I have been a loyal Rite Aid customer going on ten years now. I have been filling countless prescriptions at your stores around San Diego for allergies, asthma, high cholesterol and most recently; chronic back pain due to compressed vertebrae & two herniated disks.

Needless to say, my pain medication is very helpful to lead a somewhat normal life and to deal with the aftermath of intensive physical therapy. My monthly prescriptions have at times exceeded $1,000 (I am glad that is not my co-pay!). However, I am through with filling my prescriptions at Rite Aid and will never again drop off a script at any Rite Aid store. I would rather go to the local Ramona Pharmacy and pay more for my medication than to hand over one more prescription to Rite Aid.

Your Ramona, California store has repeatedly delayed my prescription orders resulting in days without pain medication. Since when does it take four business days (and counting) to receive prescriptions? I am not happy with the repeated excuses and outright lies as to why my prescriptions are delayed time and time again. The staff there is usually kind, but that is of little solace when I am out of medication and in constant pain while my prescriptions are delayed again and again.

I dropped off my script early morning on Friday, May 31st. I was told my medication would be in on Monday. I know that the medications I ordered are available next business day, as I have in the past received them next day and that is when the staff told me to expect them. On Monday, however, the story changed. Now I was told by your staff that these particular medications take three days to order. I can expect my medicine on Wednesday!

I know that three business days is a lie, and it is rather pathetic that your staff lies to its customers. Your staff obviously missed my request, and would rather make something up than admit a mistake. It is now Wednesday, June 4th, and only one of my two pain medications has arrived. This is absolutely ridiculous. So now I “hope” my medication will be available four business days after my order. I am sure there will be another excuse tomorrow, as today they did not even provide me with a reason for the delay.

Now, I must begin the process of shopping around for a new pharmacy and there is no shortage - Wal-Mart, Sav-On, CVS, Costco, etc. But no more Rite Aid. You have burned this bridge one too many times. Feel free to search the web for this review of your terrible service, as I plan on posting it to every pharmacy review blog, message board or website I can find.

ATCO, NEW JERSEY -- Last week, I told the pharmacist that I want my prescription slip back and to not fill my medication. He told me he couldn't do that for me right now cause he was by himself. So he told me he will leave a note with the other pharmacist. The next day so I had called and see if my slips were still there. The girl told me yeah that they have them that they won't throw something like that out and I said, “OK, I will be there soon.”

So I went there and ask for my slips. Her head was like in the clouds. She was looking at the area where they keep filled prescriptions at and she asked me when I had it filled. I told her that I was only here for a slip and she said, “oh, you meant the actual slips” and I said, “yeah.” And then she asked the pharmacist where are my slips, so he came to me and said that my prescription had been filled and I told him I never wanted them filled that I told the other pharmacist that.

He said he has to back it out of the system and find the slip for me. He told me to come back in a hour, so I did. And he asked me if it was a phone-in one, I told him no that I dropped it off in person and I asked him why. He told me that he couldn't locate my slips and I asked him if they might have thrown it out. He told me he doesn't think so, then I said that they has to be somewhere here. He told me he don't know what to tell me and asked me if I can contact my doctor to get a new one but he doesn't understand the concept of this. The slips shouldn't have been lost in the first place that I had notified the pharmacist last week that I will be picking my slips up.

CINNAMINSON, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- I went to get my 1st prescription of Tramadol for pain filled at the Rite Aid in Cinnaminson, NJ. The pharmacist I saw could barely speak English, so I am also guessing she couldn't read the RX well either. I take Cymbalta which is an antidepressant as well. I pick up my prescription and notice that the pill looks like another medication I had taken years before for depression.

Instead of giving me Tramadol, the pharmacist filled my RX for Trazodone. I went in and confronted her and made her pull my RX and you could tell she knew she made a big mistake. Trazodone combined with Cymbalta can cause seizures and other complications. She kept asking me if I took any. I should have told her yes, but I told her thankfully I always am keen on what medications I take look like and didn't take any. I did call their customer service department that handles issues with the pharmacy department and they took my complaint.

I received a phone call from the pharmacy manager the next day apologizing for the mistake. I am happy that I received a call, but I am not happy that I could have taken something that interacted badly with my other medications. I switched my RX's to another pharmacy after that. I hope everyone who reads this takes a lesson to double check your RX's when you get them. You can look up what a pill is supposed to look like online, according to the manufacturer. Be safe! Pharmacists can and do make mistakes!

HESPERIA, CALIFORNIA -- I dropped my prescription off because they said they didn't have the pain pills (Vicodin). I called the next day to see if they had them. They said yes and they were preparing it now. They kept telling me to call back. I called back for 3 hours. They kept lying about it. Finally I said I am coming to pick it up. She said it would be ready in 15 min. When I got there, I waited in line. When I got to the window, she said it was almost ready.

Meanwhile, she was taking other people that had just got there. She was taking them in front of me and just kept me standing there waiting. I complained to her. I said, "I was here first, why are you taking everyone else?" The pharmacist came over and glowered at me in a threatening manner. He said "I'm just finishing up with yours now." I said, "Yeah, I've been hearing that for 3 hours." He didn't like me complaining. He was very rude.

BARBOURVILLE, KENTUCKY -- I placed a complaint about the awful experience I had at Rite Aid in Barbourville Tues Dec. 10. I was happy to receive a call from the District Manager. He was professional, courteous, and kind in apologizing for this incident. I want to thank him for making me feel like I matter as a customer. Also, I hope this incident may educate people on Suboxone. There are many elderly, disabled, and addicted people trying to fix their lives from the misery of taking opiates a little too long. If anyone has ever seen a person in full withdrawal, they would understand.

Many people are against it, but it works and people are able to function without diarrhea, vomiting, sweats, heart racing, insomnia, bone aches, muscle spasms, jerks etc. that happens to you when you stop taking your medicine daily. I have enough life experience to know and I can tell you being judged when you are trying to improve makes you very angry. I needed to hear an apology from someone and I know he took me seriously instead of dismissing me like the store employee did. Thank you Sir, I am sorry I couldn't hear your name that well due to my cell signal when we talked but you did your job perfectly.

SALEM, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Okay, once a month, I go to Rite Aid to have my prescriptions filled. I am a regular customer for many, many years. So, why then, each month when I go to have my prescriptions filled, they do not have the product! Seriously, it's not like they don't know I'm coming in! Better yet, I dropped two scripts off yesterday morning, and here it is, 24 hours later, and the scripts are still not filled! And they are only giving me a partial on one of them, with instructions to come back three days later to pick up the rest! I am done with this horrible company. CVS, here I come!!

W. OCEAN VIEW AVE STORE IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA -- Day before yesterday, I went to Rite Aid in Ocean View to pick up a prescription. My complaint is not about the pharmacy. I picked up a two liter Coke, a Skinny Cow candy bar, and a 14 oz. Pepsi. In the meantime, one of the girls who man the checkout counter picked up the same kind of Pepsi and a bag of chips. There was a man working on a laptop at the same counter where her stuff was placed. I guess he was a salesman or something. I put my stuff down at the other checkout to be rung up.

**, one of the checkout girls, started to ring my stuff up and kept putting my Pepsi aside, thinking it was the other girl's. She refused to ring up the Pepsi, saying it was the other girl's. I said, "That is mine." "No, it wasn't." I said, "Yours is THERE." The man on the laptop said that "THAT one is yours." I am a senior citizen and I find their attitude insulting. I believe they thought I didn't know what I was talking about because of this. I have run across this attitude before. After that, it was honey, baby, something I don't like either. Senior citizens are a big part of the population. I think my money is as good as a younger person's.