October 2022 by Michelle S.
Open Letter to CVS Pharmacy, THEY refuse to answer the phone in the pharmacy department. I drove 25 minutes to this store (the nearest one to my home) yesterday, and all the while I was on hold on my phone!! I walked in and was able to walk right up to the counter since there was NO ONE standing in line at the pharmacy counter. So, WHY can't these people answer the phone to assist a customer??? Unfortunately, this is not just at this location but seems to be common throughout the company. This experience has been the same in THREE different states and at least 6-8 different locations!!! It is almost like CVS trains their employees to not care about the customers, at all. I am currently on HOLD, going on 1 HOUR and 12 minutes, waiting for an update on my son's medication that he has been on for the last 6 years. Oh and someone just picked up the phone and hung up on me. Why are we forced to be without his much-needed prescription? Why are we forced to "deal" with rude, uncaring, unprofessional CVS employees? And yes, we are being "forced to deal" with how CVS treats its customers because they are given preference by supply companies (so the smaller, local pharmacies struggle to keep prescriptions in stock) and because of the underhanded agreements and partnerships with insurance companies and large corporations to keep business booming. I feel TRAPPED since we are "locked" into filing it here because the prescription cannot be transferred and it takes a few days to get a doctor to call in or transmit another script to another pharmacy, and the cycle starts over again. I feel sorry for the elderly and disabled who cannot "just drive to the store for answers and assistance" with their prescriptions and rely heavily on the phone to communicate with the Pharmacist. Cutting off communication to their customers could be LIFE-THREATENING when it comes to our HEALTH. I was told, rudely, that they are 5 days behind filling prescriptions..THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!! Some medications can be life-threatening if stopped abruptly and some medications (like my son) are considered "controlled substances", we already have restrictions in place being unable to refill a prescription more than 2 days before we are completely out. Completely out...of a medical treatment that has worked for the last 6 years to give someone the ability to be his best person, to give someone a chance to have structure and stability. Oh, and not even to mention that they close the drive-through and force everyone to come inside! WHY force the elderly and disabled to come inside and walk to the back of the store when that might not be possible? WHY force the sick to potentially infect everyone in the store including the pharmacy staff? Why are we Americans forced with a lackluster healthcare system in "the greatest country in the world"? Oh, yes, that is because we are NOT "the greatest country in the world". Our healthcare system here is for PROFIT... not for the HEALTH of the community. DO Better CVS...At least ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!!!!!!