munkinarts.com: the blog

Here’s the CVS situation from my wife’s POV:

Dear CVS,

I have been using your pharmacy for years, first because a store was within walking distance from my apartment, and then because your pharmacies are linked so I didn’t have to transfer my prescriptions when I moved. It has been convenience of location rather than satisfaction with the customer experience that has kept me as your customer for so many years. In the last several months, I have been frequenting two stores – store #708 at 676 Southbridge Street in Auburn, MA and store #166 at 115 Stafford Street in Worcester, MA. Nearly 75% of the time I leave the pharmacy counter or drive-thru window feeling that CVS has yet again failed to meet my ever-lowering expectations. This evening was the final straw.

My 2-year-old son visited the doctor today, and his prescription for antibiotics was sent electronically to the pharmacy at store #708 at approximately 3:15 PM. I arrived at the pharmacy a few minutes after 5PM and was informed that my son’s prescription hadn’t yet been printed and that it would take about 10 minutes to fill. I elected to wait. I shopped a little, and returned to the waiting area after about 10 minutes, but my order had not yet been filled. I took a seat and waited some more. Other people came and were told to wait as well. Those same people were called in short order and left; I was still waiting.

For an hour and fifteen minutes, I waited. Every time there was a lull in customers, the counter staff would disappear before I could ask about my order. It wasn’t until another customer mentioned how visibly upset I was as she was being rung up that anyone behind the counter made any eye contact with me. They checked their system again and finally, at 6:30 PM, my prescription was ready. When I asked for an explanation as to why I had been made to wait for 90 minutes for something that had been submitted well in advance of my arrival, the answer from Adam, the Shift Supervisor, was that he just didn’t know. I had seen him speaking with someone in charge of filling and checking the prescriptions, so if Adam didn’t know what was going on, it’s pretty clear that neither did the other people who worked there.

I was already extremely unhappy with having to wait 90 minutes for a prescription that I had initially been told would be ready in 10 minutes. The fact that no one seemed to claim any responsibility for allowing the prescription to fall through the cracks is even more insulting and infuriating. I didn’t bother to speak to a manager at the store because a) I had already been there for an hour and half and didn’t want to stay longer, and b) if the Shift Supervisor could do no more than say “I don’t know” and offer an insincere apology, I doubted anyone else in the store could do more. I hope an e-mail to Corporate will at least reach the Regional Manager, or some other competent person in a position to do something other than tell me they’re sorry.

Thank you for your time,
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