Walgreens — Local services in City of Watervliet

DO NOT get vaccinated here. Something is wrong with this Walgreens. I had an experience unlike any I've had in my life. I had to walk out.

I came in for 3 vaccines. All staff behind the pharmacy counter were tense with each other, like everyone had a problem with each other. The customer-facing pharmacists had sour faces. Very bad vibe from the entire team and how they interacted; I heard one speak sharply to a peer. But I thought, everyone has a bad day, maybe there was an incident before I walked in that's put everyone on edge. I figured I'd forgive it and move on. BIG MISTAKE.

I have needle anxiety. The smell of rubbing alcohol before a shot can push me over the edge into an anxiety attack. I was already uncomfortable with the attitude of the staff, but again I told myself everyone has bad days. I decided to suck it up and ask only for my bare minimum requirement-- no alcohol-- and not trouble the staff with any other special requests.

The woman who came in to vax me had the mood of a lemon rind, like the rest of the staff. I just asked, "Can you sanitize with something other than alcohol? I have needle anxiety." The "no alcohol" request does sometimes throw people off, but they either check with a supervisor or slow down to work out a solution with me. She did neither. She did nothing but insist alcohol was the only option. I suggested a paper towel with soap and water, which is typically what nurses offer me when they don't have iodine. She refused.

She acted like she'd never heard of needle anxiety before, which is unacceptable in someone whose job is to give vaccines. People with needle anxiety can faint, fall, or vomit, and I don't think she was aware of this at all. She didn't consult with another staff member when she discovered I had special needs. Her demeanor wasn't soothing in the slightest. It only escalated my anxiety. If I had panicked or fainted, I don't trust she would have reacted properly. I can't imagine her or anyone else behind the counter that day being good with a small child.

The inexperience of the person administering the vaccine combined with the bad demeanor of everyone behind the counter combined to make the worst vaccine situation I've been in. I felt so uncomfortable that I walked out without getting vaxxed for the first time in my life.

I'm not going to place the blame on this employee. This is a failure of leadership to develop good teamwork among the staff. I'm sure she was capable of learning how to handle a patient with needle anxiety; someone failed to train her. I'm sure she had the capacity to ask for help; someone failed to create a team where members felt safe going to their supervisors and peers for help. The managing of staff here is incompetent. The location manager is named Phil-- I will not go to 2nd Ave until he is no longer in charge.

After walking out, I went to a different Walgreens to get my vaccines, at 933 Loudon, and it was like night & day. All the staff at Loudon were acting normal. No weird vibes. When I said I had needle anxiety, they were super nice and accommodating, communicating with each other so they could offer alcohol alternatives, distraction techniques, extra privacy, and emotional support. The man who gave me my shots was calm, took his time, and offered to make the situation as comfortable as he could. He did not make me feel freakish for my special needs. A super nice woman popped in to see if she could help out, and was fantastic at talking to me during the shots. She was absolutely wonderful. This was a healthy team with good leadership and great individuals.

I had the worst vaccine experience of my adulthood at the 2nd Ave Walgreens, and the best vaccine experience of my life at the Loudon Walgreens. This is out of decades of decent vaccine experiences across several clinics, practices, and pharmacies, including a handful of different Walgreens. The problem isn't with the Walgreens corporation. It's with the management of this specific 2nd Ave location. Only 2nd Ave was so bad that I had to post a review warning people...

If I could give no stars I would this place is absolutely ridiculous most of a staff is completely rude besides a couple of really friendly staff members. They always mess up your order they always mess up your insurance. I had an incident where My doctor ordered my medication I went to go pick it up and they said that I had already gotten it I'm like no I didn't... So I'm like maybe I didn't I'm just not remembering right maybe I dropped in a car I'm like wait a minute I don't remember getting it. I got a phone call about a week ago saying that my inhalers and sitting there I'm like okay well somebody else told me that it wasn't there and I must have taken it which I didn't so here's the missing inhaler I was looking for. Meanwhile I have really bad breathing issues and it's very dangerous for me to be without one !!! Luckily I still had some on my last one. I call yesterday that was supposed to be the day last day on it my whole household was sick I went there yesterday and machines are down and they say that it was already up on the last day the day before I'm like wait what!!! I told that pharmacist what happened and she said okay sorry she will order it she's usually when that's really rude and nasty The blonde she's only nice sometimes.... So the computers are down she was supposed to put it in I go in this morning to go get my medication I get two of them I didn't look in the bag cuz I thought it must be all there I get home and lo and behold My inhaler still not in there I call and they never ordered it again so they reordered it and I had to go back down again to get my medication!!! Another incident where I went to get my son's medication and they said that my son didn't have insurance My son's special needs he uses his insurance everyday with therapists so I know that wasn't the problem I gave them two different cards they couldn't do either one I had to call the old pharmacy to get another number and for them put it through and the same numbers were one one of the cards they refuse to help me until I got a hold of the other one!!! My son needs his medication everyday and he missed a day because of this pharmacy!!! This place needs a revamp and need to get rid of some employees because this is ridiculous irresponsible and dangerous in certain situations for patients!! Imagine somebody needing a life-saving medication and they don't give it to them and fight with him about it imagine that!!! Some kind of enforcement needs to be in this place to fix this and I'm not the only one with issues obviously a friend of mine had the same issue with insurance and then they fixed it magically within minutes after she...

Don't use this location for printing-- The Walgreens website claims that this location offers document printing. I ordered a large print job for same-day pickup, and was called and told it would be ready the next day. Then, the next day, they called and said they couldn't take a print job this large, and had to cancel my order. Frustrating but understandable, it was a lot of pages, I just wish I had known sooner. I clarified with them that they would be able to print smaller print jobs, and they confirmed.

The next week, on a Monday, I placed a medium size print job with them, again, eligible for same day pickup. I got the runaround over the phone with them for days, was never told "this is too large" or anything, just "it won't be ready today," until Thursday, when I received an email that my order has been cancelled again.

This is not a crazy big deal as my job wasn't depending on these prints and it wasn't urgent, but this location shouldn't be listed as a location for document printing, and I'd rather be told upfront that they literally must not do any document printing at all, rather than waste a week of my time. I kept proceeding with Walgreens because I had a 30% off coupon, but I'll go to Staples now and pay like double the price for this print job. Whatever. Just really...