I had a prescription that had come due. Now these prescriptions are supposed to be refilled automatically by my pharmacy so all I have to do is drive up and pick it up. Not this time. I made SEVEN trips to the pharmacy over three days to pick up this prescription. On the first trip on a Sunday, the pharmacy was closed. This is a 7-day a week pharmacy. They closed down for several days and I never knew why until the fourth visit. I had two pills left at this point, so I wasn't too worried.
The second trip the following Monday was the second time I found them closed, this time for a meal break. This was at 1:30 in the afternoon. The third visit later that night, the line to the pharmacy was 15 cars long, so I just turned around and went home. I took my last pill that night, too, so I was out when I went the next day (today).
The fourth trip, I finally got to talk to someone, who said, "what prescription are you expecting? We don't have one filled for you." Well, I had no idea what it was called. I don't NEED to know what it's called since these prescriptions are filled automatically with zero input from me. I just go and pick them up when I run out. We tried to figure out which prescription I needed and finally, she said, "well, you need to go home and check which one it is for sure."
When I told her how many trips I had already made to her pharmacy and the circumstances I met each time, she said, "well, I'm sorry, but we're short-handed and we're doing the best we can and that's just the way it is." They had closed because they didn't have enough staff to operate the store and needed to give everyone a couple of days off. Which is fine by me, but you still need to fill the prescriptions that renew automatically. You've had about a week to do that (they usually refill them when I have four or five pills left in the old prescription), and you haven't done it. So I went home to find out which prescription I needed, drove back, waited in line at the drive through for the second time that day and was told that they could have it filled by tomorrow.
I said, "but I'm out today. I need some today. Can't you give me an emergency pill." (This pharmacy will give you an emergency refill, usually only three pills, if the prescription hasn't been renewed by the doctor's office and they're waiting for a fax to confirm the refill.) "No, we can't do that. We're short-handed and that's just the way it is." (This seemed to be her favorite phrase.) She suggested I go to a different Walgreens and maybe they could fill it.
So that's what I did. Of course, the first trip to the new store, I just had to place the order. The second (and seventh trip overall), I finally picked it up. Buuuut we weren't done just yet.
When I got it home, there were two different colored and shaped pills in the bottle. Now this is the same pharmacy chain that once gave me a prescription with two different kinds of pills mixed together. Come to find out, one of the pills was a highly addictive pain killer. They were similar enough in size that it was hard to notice, except one was a slightly different shade of white than the other and had a letter stamped on it. So naturally, I was suspicious. I called the new pharmacy and they said it was fine. It was just two different manufacturers of the same drug. They had run out of one and used the other to supplement it.
By the way, I turned the pharmacy in to the DEA and FDA for giving me a prescription with addictive pain killers in it the first time they mixed up my pills. I don't know what happened with that case.
Anyway, seems like a lot of trouble to go through to do something that has become routine. I'd really like to switch pharmacies, but this one is just so handy to where I live.
The second trip the following Monday was the second time I found them closed, this time for a meal break. This was at 1:30 in the afternoon. The third visit later that night, the line to the pharmacy was 15 cars long, so I just turned around and went home. I took my last pill that night, too, so I was out when I went the next day (today).
The fourth trip, I finally got to talk to someone, who said, "what prescription are you expecting? We don't have one filled for you." Well, I had no idea what it was called. I don't NEED to know what it's called since these prescriptions are filled automatically with zero input from me. I just go and pick them up when I run out. We tried to figure out which prescription I needed and finally, she said, "well, you need to go home and check which one it is for sure."
When I told her how many trips I had already made to her pharmacy and the circumstances I met each time, she said, "well, I'm sorry, but we're short-handed and we're doing the best we can and that's just the way it is." They had closed because they didn't have enough staff to operate the store and needed to give everyone a couple of days off. Which is fine by me, but you still need to fill the prescriptions that renew automatically. You've had about a week to do that (they usually refill them when I have four or five pills left in the old prescription), and you haven't done it. So I went home to find out which prescription I needed, drove back, waited in line at the drive through for the second time that day and was told that they could have it filled by tomorrow.
I said, "but I'm out today. I need some today. Can't you give me an emergency pill." (This pharmacy will give you an emergency refill, usually only three pills, if the prescription hasn't been renewed by the doctor's office and they're waiting for a fax to confirm the refill.) "No, we can't do that. We're short-handed and that's just the way it is." (This seemed to be her favorite phrase.) She suggested I go to a different Walgreens and maybe they could fill it.
So that's what I did. Of course, the first trip to the new store, I just had to place the order. The second (and seventh trip overall), I finally picked it up. Buuuut we weren't done just yet.
When I got it home, there were two different colored and shaped pills in the bottle. Now this is the same pharmacy chain that once gave me a prescription with two different kinds of pills mixed together. Come to find out, one of the pills was a highly addictive pain killer. They were similar enough in size that it was hard to notice, except one was a slightly different shade of white than the other and had a letter stamped on it. So naturally, I was suspicious. I called the new pharmacy and they said it was fine. It was just two different manufacturers of the same drug. They had run out of one and used the other to supplement it.
By the way, I turned the pharmacy in to the DEA and FDA for giving me a prescription with addictive pain killers in it the first time they mixed up my pills. I don't know what happened with that case.
Anyway, seems like a lot of trouble to go through to do something that has become routine. I'd really like to switch pharmacies, but this one is just so handy to where I live.
