
Shannon of Holtsville, NY on Feb. 8, 2011
Please accept this letter as a formal complaint as to the gross negligence, incompetence and outright rudeness of the pharmacy staff at the above referenced store. I suffer from stressed-induced urticaria (chronic hives) and there is only one medicine, Xyzal, that works for me. I have been getting this prescription from the above pharmacy for almost two years now.
I called in for a refill of Xyzal last week on January 31, 2011 at 8:30AM and was immediately instructed by the automated clerk that I had no refills left and they would be calling the doctor for a new script. I called back early in the afternoon to see if it was ready for pickup and was told it was not. I went to CVS in person later that afternoon hoping for a better result. After waiting in line for 40 minutes, I was told the computers were down and that they could not process my new insurance at that time. I called again on Tuesday morning (2/1/11) to check on the status and was told it was still not ready due to a prior authorization being required by my new insurance company (UHC) and that the paperwork was faxed to my doctor's office. I then phoned my doctor and was informed that they had not received a fax. I called the pharmacy back and asked them to resend the fax and they assured me they would. As of noon, my doctor had still not received it and I again, asked CVS to resend and even gave them the fax number.
As of this time, I was out of my medicine completely and needed to get it as soon as possible. Due to an inclement weather forecast, I needed to get the medicine immediately. At 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, I went to CVS with the hopes that it would be ready by then. After waiting in line for 30 minutes, I was informed that it was still not ready, due to the doctor not replying to the requests. They printed me a copy of the form that was faxed to my doctor and it was being sent to the wrong doctor. Dr. Laeita was the doctor who called in the prescription and has been the prescribing doctor for over a year now. However, the form was sent to Dr. Satnick (an allergist whom I have not been treated by in over a year). I cannot comprehend how this could have occurred. Alas, it did and I was sent home with no medicine and already developing symptoms.
On Wednesday the 2nd, I again started my morning by calling the pharmacy and the doctor's office. My doctor did finally get the authorization form but was unable to complete it due to the fact that he is not a participating provider with my insurance company. I had to make an appointment with a new doctor and get the process started all over again. The pharmacist was nice enough to give me two pills to hold me over until my appointment. I had an appointment set for Friday, but it was not upheld due to a booking error on the office's part. So now, I am over 24 hours without the Xyzal and ended up in the emergency room Friday afternoon, due to hives covering my entire body. I was given a shot of steroids and a prescription for a seven-day pack of Medrol to attempt to treat the current outbreak.
On Sunday, the 6th, I went to fill this prescription and was again very rudely greeted and helped. They told me they were backed up again and it will be a few hours. I informed the woman that I will wait, I need this medicine now and asked her to take a look at my face, hands and body, which was covered with hives. She nastily insisted that it will be a few hours even though she confirmed that it does came prepackaged in a box ready to go. I insisted on waiting, purchased and took OTC Zyrtec while I was waiting there suffering and scratching incessantly. Lo and behold, the prescription was ready in 20 minutes.
Finally today, Monday the 7th, I went to my doctor appointment and they called CVS with the new prescription for Xyzal and the authorization number from UHC at 12:00PM. At 1:30, I called your pharmacy to see if it was ready and it was not (still waiting authorization), I stated that the authorization number was called in with the script and gave it to them again. At 3PM, I called again to see if it was ready and again, was told that it was not. They were very behind and I was advised that it should be ready in 2 hours or so. At 5PM, my boyfriend went to pick it up and it was still not ready. After waiting there for half an hour, he was told that it was not going through. The insurance company was still denying it and he will have to pay $146.00 if we wanted it. He agreed to pay for it because I so desperately need it and was told to wait for just one more minute. The pharmacist then came back, said it went through, charged him $1 and he was on his way to bring me my pills finally.
Luckily, he opened it before leaving and discovered that it wasn't even the right drug in the bag. After all of these, he was given a refill of the Lexapro that I no longer take or need and informed the pharmacy of such every time I called or went there in the last week. He went back to the counter and I called and asked for the manager. After being on hold for 7 and minutes, a woman named Danielle picked up my call and I attempted to get this resolved once and for all. She placed me on hold for another 10 minutes, when she came back on the line, I calmly tried to explain the whole situation and voiced my concerns and complaints. She again placed me on hold for 3 minutes, returned to the phone (crying) and told me it went through. She was handing it to my boyfriend and it will cost $3.00. I thanked her for her help and understanding but still wished to lodge a formal complaint as to the way in which I was treated, spoken to and the utter disgrace of it taking a week, an abundance of phone calls and visits to receive my medicine.
She was unable to handle my complaint and the head Pharmacist, Danny **, was again too busy and backed up to help me. I find this whole situation disgraceful and very disturbing. I am a longtime customer of your store and pharmacy and spend a lot of money every time I am there. I have never experienced such poor customer service, especially those involving health and patient care.
While it may not always be obvious to the naked eye, CVS stands for "Consumer Value Stores". The company opened its first store in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1963 and now operates 4,100 stores in more than 30 states. It has absorbed several other chains, including People's Drug, Revco and Arbor Drugs and continues to acquire individual stores throughout its market area. CVS, based in Woonsocket, RI, now has about 110,000 employees. While all this is no doubt very impressive, it doesn't necessarily translate to the kind of caring and personal service one looks for in a neighborhood pharmacy. We received many serious complaints about CVS pharmacies filling prescriptions incorrectly, losing prescriptions, dispensing the wrong quantity of pills and generally mistreating their pharmacy patients; many of whom are in a fragile state to start with. Due to this experience, I reluctantly feel that I will have to utilize another pharmacy for my future needs.