Walgreens — Local services in City of Oneonta

Update - September 2024: Sent in my refill on Saturday, September 14th at 10am via phone call, automated system notifies me it will be ready Monday. That's fine. Come in today (Wednesday September 18th) and I'm told it's not ready yet and they can "try and work on it today." Also overheard a pharmacist in the back say they're over 600 scripts behind. How are you so far behind that scripts sent in 5 days ago haven't even been touched yet? Why not notify customers how behind you are? So they can try getting their scripts sent to a different pharmacy that isn't either understaffed/incompetent or a both. Also this prescription I sent in, unlike my previous encounter, is not a controlled substance. So they can give it to me whenever. I get my controlled substance script sent elsewhere now that is also cheaper than Walgreens.

Original Review from June 2024: Today my prescription was supposed to be ready. I eventually got it, but let me give you a timeline of events that preceeded it.

June 7th at 1:42pm: 2 scripts are sent from my doctor to the pharmacy. They are a controlled substance that cannot be picked up until the 9th.

June 9th at 10:45am: I call the pharmacy to check the status of the prescription. It was not ready yet. I then asked for an estimate on when it would be ready, and employee stated they had no clue when it would be ready. They take my phone number to make sure I get text message notifications regarding the status of my prescription. Phone call ends.

June 9th at 11:16am: I get a automated phone call stating one of the prescriptions cannot be filled because it's out of stock. It sucks, but it is what it is, and at least they're working on my scripts.

June 9th at 12:08pm: I get a notification from my GoodRx app. I run my prescriptions through GoodRx because my insurance doesn't cover them. The notification says "You just saved $XXX on your prescription." I thought my prescription must be ready now, because they ran it through GoodRx.

June 9th at 12:55pm: I arrive at Walgreens. The parking lot has maybe 4-5 vehicles in it, and it's evident the store isn't very busy once I walk inside. I walk up to the pharmacy counter and there is no one waiting in-line. A member of the pharmacy staff walks up and I provide my last name. She states that one couldn't be filled because they didn't have it in stock. I told her I knew because I got the phone call, but I was here to pick up the other one because I saw they'd ran it through GoodRx. The staff member then told me another staff member was "still counting it so it's going to be a bit" and then immediately walked away.

June 9th at 1:13pm: Nearly 20 minutes later, they call my name and I finally get my prescription.

So, they clearly started working on my prescriptions around 11:16 since I got a phone call stating one wasn't in stock. My other script was for 60 capsules.

So let me get this straight... You're telling me, on a slow Sunday morning/afternoon, 2 days after the scripts were sent over, it took the pharmacy 2 HOURS to count to...

This is the 3rd time in less than a month that I have had issues with this pharmacy. I will be switching immediately. During the weekend I realized I was out of my medication, (weird this had never happened because they always auto-fill). I call, they tell me that I picked it up on a certain date, I tear my house apart, thinking I'm going crazy. I ask my husband thinking maybe he picked it up or something, NOPE. I call back explain to them that there is NO WAY or maybe I possibly threw it away and will need to pay out of pocket. My husband goes to pick it up, gives a card...they say "no it was our mistake...you don't have to pay." Okay, one win for the day. Fast forward to today, I have gotten a phone call from the pharmacy for the last 2 days saying I have a script ready, there's only one that I could possibly have and/or pick up that is available. I get there after waiting in the drive through for 7 mins, they come to the window say "yep, there's one ready for you." I wait another 10 minutes then I see all of the techs running around like crazy. Another 10 minutes, they return and say "I'm sorry there was an issue, we're going to fill it now. It will be a few minutes." They bring it to me, pay, drive away...get home and realize it wasn't the medication that I was there to pick up. It was a med that has been filled last week that had zero re-fills because it was a one time script. I go back and go in this time, explain what medication I was waiting for. Tech says "oh yeah I see it here. Okay we'll get this ready." While I sit and wait for it to fill, I overhear atleast 3 people in the drive through with similar issues. Then another comes to the window saying they had a script sent from a certain place, they say "yeah, we don't have it...for some reason we haven't been getting script through their system for awhile." My suggestion, DO NOT EVER go to this pharmacy! The tech, however, was very apologetic but the other staff including the pharmacist just doesn't give a single care!

Update: 8/25 Yet again....this pharmacy is literally THE worst in Oneonta! My home care patient has been waiting for a rx since Friday...an antibiotic, no less. Family called yesterday, Saturday, and they said that it would not be ready until 5pm. One of my aids arrived and they gave her a completely different medication and told her the rest would be ready the following day. I arrived today, Sunday at 212pm and they said "oh it looks like there's an issue with the medication, we're waiting for the dr to get back, we're waiting for insurance." 3 different excuses. I explained this is now a delay in care because she has missed 2 days of antibiotic and could go septic. I've now been on hold for almost 2 hours waiting to speak to a pharmacist. Someone picked up at 1 hour and 40 minutes. I asked to speak to a pharmacist and...

What a horrible experience! The pharmacy had my husbands prescription several days in advance of when we needed it yet I had to go to the drive through where they left us waiting for 15 min. A row of traffic behind us was waiting too. I was told 45 min more to wait. I went home and returned 2.5 hours later. I pull up to the drive through and I'm told that the pharmacist has to check it. There is a line of traffic behind me and no one returns to the drive through for14 minutes. My husband was supposed to take this medication hours before. So he tries to call the pharmacy while we are waiting at the drive through window. No one comes back and my husband is put on hold. We decide to go in and see what is wrong and why they are so incompetent and slow.

I'm furious at this point, after a loud conversation the store manager goes back to the pharmacy and pulls the prescription out of the bin! So, I guess it was ready.

We will mo longer be using Walgreens in Oneonta. All of my husband's and my prescriptions will be going to Walmart where they have enough competent staff to be trusted with our prescription healthcare.

This Walgreens has gone steadily down hill. This is NOT the first time we have had a problem with the service there, but it will be the last. And, I will encourage everyone that I know to refrain from doing...