Walgreens

My family and I have been coming to this particular Walgreens pharmacy for almost 20 years now and sadly I have watched the customer service decline greatly. The store itself is great and most of the employees are quite friendly, however, the pharmacy staff is atrocious. Prescriptions take far longer to fill then they should, they're continuously short staffed and almost every pharmacist/tech has an attitude. It is very clear and apparent that they hate their jobs. In addition to poor attitudes, their knowledge and "expertise" is severely lacking. They do not seem to have or know specific rules, policies or any knowledge of actual law. One can ask the same question of each pharmacy employee, and its guaranteed that one will receive a different answer every time. Another issue is communication. I've personally had several experiences in which my primary care physician or myself has called or spoken with this pharmacy and they continuously lose messages, dont communicate messages efficiently or correctly and if they do manage to communicate any messages, it is NEVER in a timely manner. My most recent issue today, was of course in trying to have one of my regular prescriptions filled. I am prescribed pain medication on a monthly basis from my primary care provider. My Doctor writes them to be filled in or after the 8th of every month. When I dropped my prescriptions off last month, I was told that it was perfectly acceptable to bring by prescription in on the 6th of each month to be filled. Since then, during my inquiries, I have received a multitude of varying answers and attitudes regarding this matter. I dropped my prescription today and was again told that I could pick it up tomorrow morning (The 6th of December) upon calling to check on said prescription, I was told that it can't and won't be filled until the 8th. When I tried to explain the situation AND that I had been told AGAIN by one of YOUR pharmacists that I COULD fill it on the 6th, the person to whom I was currently speaking with replied that the person I had spoken with previously must not have looked at the prescription closely enough. However, throughout this conversation she had a very apparent attitude and was quite agitated by my asking questions and trying to explain the situation. So, I proceeded to call another Walgreens pharmacy. A location in Centennial, just off Arapahoe road. The pharmacist there was much more friendly and seemed happy to answer my questions. I explained the situation to her, and she looked at my account immediately and told me that I COULD in fact have my script filled on the 6th of each month. I also posted these questions to a King Soopers pharmacy and was told its perfectly acceptable to fill this prescription on the 6th of each month... I also was informed that the reason for my multitude of varying answers may be due to the fact that filling on the 6th of each month is at the pharmacists discretion. I realize everyone is up in arms now about pain medication, however. I have a legitimate reason and prescription from my primary care physician and if this situation is at the pharmacists discretion, I absolutely do not appreciate being treated so poorly and rudely simply because of what my script is for. I understand that dealing w/ the general public and their insurance companies can be very trying and difficult, and I always try to approach with a kind, patient and friendly demeanor because of that fact. However, it is consistently made clear that the pharmacists at this location do not care about the customers, that they hate their jobs and the lack of communication and knowledge at this location is both astounding and atrocious. These, and many other issues regarding their attitudes etc, have been happening for some time now with zero improvement. I am very seriously considering taking my business elsewhere. I know losing one customer won't make any difference to a large company, but myself and most of my family members are fed up with dealing with this location. And it would appear that we're not the only ones. I've looked at this location's reviews and they have an awful rating and most people are saying the same things... Atrocious customer service, very poor wait times, no communication between the pharmacists and doctors/patients and so on.