CVS — Local services in Great Barrington

I’ve always had nothing but a mediocre experience at CVS pharmacy - no one (except Thomas) has ever been remotely friendly, seems to care, or is at all helpful, but yesterday’s experience, it was just too much. We were out of town and my daughter was diagnosed with an ear infection and I (stupidly) had the prescription called in here. On the way home, I tried calling the pharmacy (several times!) to confirm that the prescription was received so that we could pick it up, give it to our poor girl - who was in excruciating pain - and be on our way. After sitting on hold for over 45 minutes, we used another phone to call the general line to see if there was a long line at the pharmacy and what was going on. He (very nicely) told us there was no line at all and that the their phone lines “were down” and that we should try back later. Mind you, it’s getting late in the day, my daughter is crying in pain, and we are unable now to confirm her prescription because “the pharmacy lines” are down. As you can probably guess, when we arrived and I went in to get the prescription, they did not have what was called in. The pharmacist claimed she sent word back letting urgent care center know this. Of course, when I called the urgent care center they, first and foremost, immediately answered their phone, confirmed nothing had been sent back to them, and was more than willing to help find an alternative antibiotic. I’m not one to typically leave negative reviews as we all have bad days but, in this case, I felt it was more than warranted. Your job is to help people and provide them with the needed medication(s) and not make them feel like you are doing them a favor. Until this pharmacy gets it together, I recommend going to Big Y! I will definitely be transferring any remaining prescriptions I need filled there going forward. And if anyone is reading this in the corporate office - you really need to crack down on this particular branch! This isn’t the first negative review...

Terrible pharmacy service. Avoid and go to Big Y instead (heard the same thing from local doctors).

I’ve had several poor experiences with the pharmacy here but the worst was recently when I needed a refill for an asthma medication for our son. I called it in over a week before we were going to run out, first using the automated phone system and then in person to confirm that they had received the request. I then spoke to the doctor to confirm that they had called it into the pharmacy. I went to the pharmacy two days after they said it would be ready and they said they didn’t have it in stock and it wouldn’t be ready for two more days, but by this time I only had one day’s supply left. They said they had texted me (confirmed the number, didn’t receive anything). They said I could try another CVS, but their general attitude was that it wasn’t their problem. If I we’re running a pharmacy and ran out of an asthma medication for an infant, I would make it my problem and at least make sure that the parents knew in advance.

I won’t be going back, but here are a few things they should consider improving:

If you can’t fill a prescription, make sure the patient knows. Call and try to speak to them, rather than assuming the automated CVS system works (because it doesn’t). Fill prescriptions sooner after they are called in by doctors so that if there is an issue, it can be caught sooner. Our doctor confirmed that they called it in on Monday, but CVS said they didn’t try to fill it until Thursday, which is when they realized they didn’t have it. The doctors office said that this pharmacy sometimes lets orders sit for a few days before even filling them. Pick up the phone when people call. As other people have noted in their reviews, they never pick up the phone. I’ve been on hold for over 30 minutes during business hours without getting through. This makes it even more difficult to take care of issues when...

I have never felt so disrespected while I deal with my personal health trying to get a better understanding of my insurance and coverage. I went to pick up my prescription. And after asking me tons of time on how to spell my name. The pharmacist clerk was rude and with lack of customer service skills, specially dealing with sensitive information. I felt so embarrassed when she literally said at loud that she can’t help me cause I have TONS! Of medications (3 prescribed meds), as she also follow with a “next person in line”, SO RUDE!! And I have to look around and see if I was on a clothes store, I couldn’t believe that a pharmacy can’t help with my prescription.

But, I kept my patience until I found out with another person what was the issue. Finally he help me and explained what was going on with my insurance. The reason I am not mentioning names is because we all can have a bad day at work and sometimes we don’t realize how awful you act. But after reading tons of bad reviews, I realized is a leadership issue. Please educate your people on how to manage patients necessities without have to jump and be rude. There is a privacy law that all of you should respect. Nobody in the line want or should hear the patients medications etc.

Please improve the customer service and values....