Have any of you encountered any bad experiences at a pharmacy?
By kgwat70
@kgwat70 (13387)
United States
March 15, 2007 1:40pm CST
I went to work this morning even though I am really sick because I had to open up and be there til one of my other coworkers arrived. I had a really difficult time yesterday and this morning and went to my doctor after my coworker got there. Turns out that I have a bad sinus infection. It is horrible having this illness. I got to the pharmacy and gave them my prescription. They said it would take a half hour to be ready so I said okay and sat down and waited. I was feeling too awful to look around the rest of the store. An hour went by and they still did not complete it and said it was almost finished. Another half hour went by and still it was not done. Me and two other people waited for an hour and a half for our meds. We were all upset and felt like they lied to us. There were about 7 other people that had been waiting as well for a long time. I felt bad for the one lady because she had her child there and he was not well and needed the meds. They were still waiting when I finally got mine and left. Have you encountered this before? What would you do in this situation? I think next time I may go to another pharmacy.
5 people like this
17 responses
@disvachic (10117)
• United States
15 Mar 07
I go to walgreen and haven't experienced that one.If they knew they weren't going to have the meds ready then they should have said maybe 2- 3 hours to give them some time.That way you could have left and came back.I would just put in a complaint or either go to another pharmacy.Walgreen always give a specific time but half of the time the medicine is ready before the time they say.They just want to be on the safe side.I hope you are feeling better.
2 people like this
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
15 Mar 07
Actually, the pharmacy that I went to is Walgreens. They used to be called Happy Harrys before Walgreen bought them and this was the first time I have encountered this problem and the only time I have dealt with Walgreens. Hopefully it is just an isolated incident and that they were just very busy. They still should not have kept us waiting there for that long, especially the woman with the child.
2 people like this
@disvachic (10117)
• United States
15 Mar 07
I am very surprised at that,because normally they are on point.
2 people like this
@maryannemax (12156)
• Sweden
16 Mar 07
you are right kgwat. if they can't do it on time as promised, they should have atleast told the customers to wait longer or could have explained the situation. life in a pharmacy is really busy. but if we, pharmacists and clerks, put our hearts on it, we can work fast and efficiently. i don't know to others. but i was trained to be quick especially when i worked in a hospital before. i was assigned next to the emergency room. so, no much time for relaxing. especially when there were bombings (it was rampant before because of terrorist attacks). we have to think quick, and act quick. our minds were always awake and on the go! and that's where i got trained well. i hope pharmacists will work better someday to compensate to people's demands and time.
@littlefranciscan (18327)
• United States
16 Mar 07
And I thought our pharmacy was the only one that made you wait forever and every.. I have found that by having medication called in or having a family member drop off the prescription has helped when I am too sick to be waiting.
Our pharmacy here has a drive through..You can drop it off ..then go back home and then pick it up without even getting out of the car.
I can sympathize with you ..I have gone to the pharmacy inside..when I had a fever. Seems like being sick made waiting so much harder..Sounds seem to be louder and seconds seem like hours..
I even had it happen that people coming after me would be taken care of and I left for last..
I would say though, Ken, best thing is to have your doctor call the prescription in and then call the pharmacy later and see when you should pick up the items..
I sure hope you get to feeling better..
2 people like this
@littlefranciscan (18327)
• United States
17 Mar 07
that really is sad.. that they were so unprepared.. I would think they could hand write the labels..They use to do this is the past..Hope you are feeling a little better today.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
16 Mar 07
The person next to me with the child had her doctor call in her prescription and she was still there after I left. They said they ran out of paper to reprint the labels for the pill bottles. This is the first time this has happened to me but I was upset because I am feeling really sick. Thank you for the get well wishes.
2 people like this
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
17 Mar 07
I am so sorry that you are ill, and that you had to encounter that. This has happened to me many times. Not enough help, but, they aren 't honest either. In the future, tell them your fever is so high, and that you are too ill to come back, could they please rush it. Ask the pharmasist personally. Usually that works.
1 person likes this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
20 Mar 07
I agree with you, I did switch pharmacies for that very reason. We waited for over an hour every time and they did not seem to be very busy. We swithched and now we wait about 10 minutes and we are paid and out of there. The new pharmacy has more people there getting prescriptions filled and they are still faster.
@messagecarol (50)
• United States
16 Mar 07
I HAVE!!! I ordered my prescription online through the website. Anyways when my husband went to go pick it up, they said it had already been picked up. NOW him and I were the only two people that knew about me ordering it. SO they tried to say that WE HAD to have picked it up. Anyways to make a long story short, the person who did pick it up used a credit card. The pharmacy (who is KNOWN, starts with a w ends in a an s)WOULD NOT GIVE THEIR NAME, but claimed it had to be someone we knew!! I called corporate nothing happened, I went to the police station, and they couldn;'t do anythjing, so basically I LOST A REFILL, and they even changed my password, and log in information on their site so I now have to wait for a new pin!! I FEEL that they GAVE AWAY my prescription, along with my personal medical information!!!
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
17 Mar 07
That is absolutely horrible that this happened to you and how this company would allow something like this to happen. I used to always think this company was good but after my experience and your experience they seem pretty bad. It is hard to imagine a pharmacy to allow someone to pick up medication that is not theirs.
@tarheelnancy (1317)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Luckily, I have never experienced any long wait times. I go to a local pharmacy through the drive up window, drop of my prescription and come back for it later. If I need it right then I'll wait and they get it right out to me. Hopefully, your incident at Walgreen's would occur again. I applaud your patience, I don't think I could've waited so long. I would've left and came back later, called in to see if it was ready for me to come back and pick it up.
@maggie0422 (168)
• China
16 Mar 07
I feel bad as well if I should wait for something for so long. I advice you to change to another pharmacy if the former one can't give you a convincing reason. As a service, they should be considerate, I think.
1 person likes this
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Yes this happened to me, I took my prescription to the pharmacy after i had my young daughter at the doctor. I dropped it off and they said come back in 1 hour. I went back and they still did not have it done they told me they were out of that kind of medicine and ia had to wait until tomorrow to get it. I was so mad, but than she told me just a minute she left and came back and said that she did fine it, so I had to sit and wait until she got it ready that was another half hour. After that I went to a new pharmacy.
1 person likes this
@amitksing (1323)
• India
16 Mar 07
yes this was happened when i went to doctor.I was prescribed a general nuemesalide tab.I was so ill it was quit difficult to stand out there but i managed however.
when my turn came chemist told me wait for half an hour
because he was talking to his girlfriend over his phone.
I requsted him and told how much ill I was but roothlessly answered "I am not tou are the who is ,this not my my problem if u cannot wait go eles
where
1 person likes this
@66jerseygirl (3877)
• United States
16 Mar 07
If I were in that situation,I wuold have been up there at half hour asking them. I would waited a few more minutes then if it wasn't done,I would have given them a piece of my mind and then if I still didnt get any satisfaction,I would have called the manager.That was awful to make you wait like that.If I were you ,I would call the pharmacy and ask to speak to the manager and complain about it. they tell you it will be a half hour ,that's all it should take.I hope you are feeling better!
1 person likes this
@racheld (840)
• United States
16 Mar 07
Yes I have encountered this. I went to the pharmacy directly from the doctor's office. I dropped off my slip and they said it would be about 15 minutes. I ended up waiting an hour and 15 minutes. Seeing as I'm not one for confrontation I didn't give the guy much attitude but needless to say I did NOT go back to that pharmacy.
1 person likes this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
16 Mar 07
Many many years ago, I used to wait long hours at the hospital pharmacy whenever I bring my dad for checkups. It was frustrating indeed especially when you observe that the turnaround time between each collection was rather long. It is not as if the queue is too long such that we had to wait for a long time. I am not sure if situations have improved. I have no problem with private clinics which are often quite efficient, but of course we pay a premium price.
@eastern_horizon (46)
• India
16 Mar 07
No I would have lost my control and called the police!
It does not happen. Which country are you in!
1 person likes this
@Sir_bobby88 (8231)
• Singapore
16 Mar 07
My worst encouter will be waiting in the pharmacy for an hour with a high fever yea ... not much in Singapore beside long queue yea ...the doctors here are considerate kinda of good yea lol
@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
16 Mar 07
I like walgreens too. They will also flag any prescriptions that you have listed that you are alergic too. They get busy but handle it well and have good staffing procedures. I will stick with them. Sorry you had to wait so long. Hope you are felling better.
1 person likes this
