Hoey Apothecary — Local services in Madison

I usually really like this place and have been coming here for myself for years. However, this most recent time really made me upset. My veterinarian put in an order for my cat on Monday morning. Hoey sent a text that morning saying to call, so I did right away. I gave them the requested info, credit card, etc. They told me it would be ready Wednesday. Well, today (Tuesday) I received a call from Hoey at 11:13am. The lady said, "I have an order for Giraffe here ready for pickup!" I told them I'd be there this afternoon to pick it up.

When I pulled up, I saw signage that stated that if you had ordered ahead of time, call for curbside pickup (I assumed this was COVID protocol). So I did. They couldn't find my order and after looking in the computer said, "We have that it's not ready until tomorrow..." I explained that yes, they told me that Monday, but then called me today to say it was ready. They questioned me, "Are you sure that was today? Are you sure they said it was ready and not that it was going to be ready later?" Yup, 100% sure. I have the phone record of the received call from them, so I opened it up and told them yes, they called me at 11:13. They said they'd check into it and call me back.

They called me back a few minutes later and said something was mixed up but they would work on it right away and bring it out in a few min. Okay, great! Until the pharmacist came out and was incredibly short with me. "We need at least two days notice..." I explained that I got a call from them. "Must have been the wrong number." I explained no, they stated my cat's name and everything, that I spoke with the person directly, etc. but she seemed insistent that I had screwed something up. She said, "Well, it also took us a while because we didn't know you were curbside pickup, which we ALSO need to know ahead of time." HUH? Okay... my mistake.

Then, she asked if I've used this med before. I said no and she scoffed and said, "Well that's another whole conversation..." I think she was mad because it was raining, but she came out with no umbrella. Plus, when I called the CURBSIDE PICKUP line (which is a separate number and they answer "Hoey curbside pickup...") they didn't inform me that I needed to make arrangements ahead of time, or tell me that I should just come in to the store. I honestly thought they didn't want people coming in if they had pre-ordered; again, COVID protocol.

The pharmacist quickly explained everything to me and throughout just kept making these condescending comments like, "Now remember, we need TWO DAYS to refill so call ahead of time." Again, still clearly believing this absolutely must have been my error and refusing to believe that someone called me by mistake.

Unfortunately this is the only pharmacy that I know of in the area that does compounding for cat thyroid meds so I don't really have a choice to go elsewhere. Hoping that I never have this kind of experience again, or that I can come back in the future and give a positive review.

Edited: 4 star. The owner reached out to me, but I was on vacation and didn't get a chance to touch base with him. Thank you...

Im happy that this pharmacy allows me to get the medicines I need that other places don’t have. I’m happy they have options for my diet restrictions and sensitivities. However, every single time I have to work with them they screw something up. Really inept staff or communication- something is misfiring somewhere. “Missed faxes” from the doctor numerous times on time sensitive prescriptions. Putting “veterinary use only” stickers on my human prescriptions. Filling the prescription with the wrong filler causing an allergic reaction. The list goes on. This latest one the doctor sent my prescription in over a week ago. I didn’t hear from Hoey so I called. It’s a time sensitive matter. They said they never got the fax. Ok- doctor has record of faxing so I trust them. I called the doctor back, waited for them- they refaxed the prescription right away- 2pm on Friday - they were open until 6. Called Hoey back the next morning. They didn’t see it 🙄 Found the prescription and they told me it wouldn’t be ready till Monday. Again very time sensitive prescription. Need to taje today. Not the customers fault you missed the prescription two times. Now they did end up “staying late” and filling it for me- that is a plus. But they should. Their fault. The only way I have had success with them is to get my prescriptions auto filled so I don’t have to deal with them. Every time I have a new prescription- well- frustration...

I spent a significant amount of money to meet with a pharmacist to do some testing that my own physician would not do for me. I was very excited by this since I am in the healthcare field. I was not finding answers to explain my symptoms so this seemed like an appropriate next step. This is all out of pocket. I was extremely satisfied with the initial appointment. Extremely thorough. I am, however, highly disappointed in the lack of follow up. Zero. I paid the extra amount to have the follow up to which there was none. I think I did one refill of one of the medications, but I literally had no response to it, and the hundreds of dollars in supplements made no change either. I have no income source , so it made no sense to continue and since Chris didn’t care to follow up, I was not going to continue taking supplements or taking medication that didn’t make any difference. I’m sure for some it does work. I’m just...