CVS — Local services in New York

This is literally the worst pharmacy ever. Ask your doctor to send you prescriptions somewhere else. Every time I come, EVERY GODDAM TIME there’s a problem.

There is no sense of care in how the staff interact with you. They just stare at you blankly, like they're hoping you’ll go away. Complete apathy. It’s like your existence annoys them. They should wear buttons that say “I don’t care” and save everyone some time trying to figure out what you did to be treated in such a way. I don’t entirely blame them, what a miserable place to work. Attitude is set by management, and they have VERY poor management.

There is little to no communication. The cashier will tell you one thing, and the person at consultation will tell you another. Which means you have to spend your time in 3 lines dealing with some non issue THEY should have dealt with before you even showed up.

There is always a line of about 5-10 people waiting to pick up their meds. You know what would be nice? Some sense of urgency on their part to get people what they need in a timely manner. Instead they ask you for you name and DOB 4 times, spend 5 minutes digging around in those little baskets (surely there's a better system?) where they keep filled prescriptions only to tell you that it’s not ready yet even though you got an alert saying it’s ready for pick up. Then they say it will be 20 minutes to fill it. When the 20 minutes is up, they will say another 20 minutes. Don’t think you can swing by before work and pick up your meds. It is an exhaustive process almost every time. Minimum you'll be there 15 minutes which is still absurdly long.

This place has the ambiance of a DMV combined with a hospice. There’s a sense of dread walking in, especially when you round the corner and see the huge line. They have 3 registers and only one of them is staffed and the other has been broken for 3 months. Elderly people (bless them they deserve better than this) hang around like they’re at the local senior center waiting for their meds and for someone to help them. Again, no sense of getting people what they need so they can get on with their lives.

It's DIRTY as well. Not only the waiting area, but BEHIND the counter too. The floors usually have all sorts of debris on them. Bits of paper, dust bunnies, and prescription bottle caps. It makes me uncomfortable getting my medication in a place that doesn’t bother to clean up. It’s like how you shouldn’t eat in a restaurant that has a gross bathroom. If that’s what they’re fine with you seeing, imagine what you’re NOT seeing.

They often run out or don’t have certain medications. Even though you get the call or a text saying they’re ready. Extremely common medications as well. I don’t know how exactly their distribution works, but obviously not well. I’ve gone to pick up meds I’m out of and have an alert they’re ready. Then I'm told that they're out. The pharmacist says “too bad” and shrugs. Your only option is asking if another CVS in the area has it and schlepping over there. You have to ASK this because why would they bother to offer you any solutions unprompted?

They handle it with as much tact as the GAP telling you that they don’t have a shirt in your size, but the store on 5th has it in stock. I don’t understand this attitude. This is people’s (often life dependent) MEDICATIONS we’re talking about here. There can be serious health consequences for skipping doses. They don’t have a person that could fetch it from another pharmacy? Why should I have to go out of my way to deal with THEIR f* up? I shouldn’t have to ask. It should be handled beforehand.

I am a patient person. I do not b*tch at the staff. I do not make a fuss or complain. I understand that sometimes things don’t work out, and that people make mistakes, and insurance bureaucracy is annoying. HOWEVER, they are just so consistently incompetent and infuriating that I felt the need to post this. I hope someone in upper or regional management sees these poor reviews and takes action.

Avoid using this pharmacy...

I have lived in this neighborhood for several years so I have shopped at this CVS store, more times than I can remember. There was a time when this store and the residential building above it didn't exist and a row of various stores occupied the block. Like any CVS, this store has its pros and cons but sometimes it's an employee or supervisors that makes the place nicer. Several weeks ago my wife used the store's automated check out machine. In addition to her debit card purchase, she requested $40 in cash. She then walked out with her purchase and debit card but left the store without her money. It was still in the machine. Upon reaching our apartment, my wife realized she left without her money. This day and age, $40 isn't all the money in the world but she was not happy that she lost the cash. I was suddenly chosen as the person who had to go retrieve the money. Though the store is only one block from our house I wasn't in the mood to go and I naturally assumed that the money was gone. Once inside the store I checked the automated machine my wife told me she had used but there was no sign of the cash. l asked the cashiers (2) on duty, and both stated they had no knowledge of the $40, but suggested I speak to a supervisor. A black male came when they called for assistance. He asked them about the cash, checked the automated machine and told me there was no money to be found. I then asked for a manager and a Hispanic female arrived at the front of the store. She identified herself as Daisy, one of the store managers. I again explained the situation and she did the same thing as the black male employee. She then then asked me what products my wife purchased and what was the total amount paid. I gave her the information. She told me she was going to check something in the back and added “I can’t make you any promises." I told her I understood. She returned a few minutes later, went behind a register and checked below the register. She then walked up to me and handed me the $40 my wife had left in the machine. I assume a shopper or employee found the money and turned it in. I was surprised, but thanked her and walked back home amazed. Needless to say, my wife was shocked that she actually got her money back. She knew she had sent me on "mission impossible" and didn't expect a positive result. I worked for a retail store as a teen and know firsthand about customer service. You can’t please everyone but sometimes you do something special, but only you and the customer know what you did. This review may be lengthy but I had to let other customers know about one CVS employee. Thank you Manager Daisy for going above and beyond in retrieving my wife's money. My wife also...

I will sleep like a baby tonight knowing that the manager of my business isn’t someone as logically inept as the manager of this CVS, Jasmine, is. I’ll preface this review by saying that I have NEVER left a review for a business before. I have NEVER asked to speak to a manager before, heck I would never even tell someone they’re stepping on my foot so as to avoid confrontation!

Despite explaining to the pharmacist that I traveled 40 minutes to get here to pick up my medication, the pharmacist wouldn’t give me my prescription without a physical copy of my ID. I had a picture of my passport, driver’s license, and credit cards in hand. My phone number matched my records, I gave them my name and DOB, I have also been to this pharmacy plenty of times picking up the same prescription. For no other reason but stubbornness and stupidity, they withheld my medicine from me. I explained to them that federal law dictates that they must act in “good faith efforts” to verify the identity of a person picking up their prescription. When I explained that what they were doing was anything but good faith, they stared blankly at me and told me that if someone can come pick it up on my behalf with their ID that would be fine. To clarify, I asked if the person behind me could therefore pick up my prescription. The manager said “So long as they have ID on them, yes.” She said this with a straight face. Maybe now you see where my frustration comes in… dealing with this level of stupidity is somehow more infuriating than having to travel 2.5 hours for something that could have been LEGALLY avoided if not for genuine incompetency.

I’d give JASMINE a -10/100 if I could. She had so much attitude and nastiness on her face, she had no idea what she was saying, she just wanted to act powerful and spiteful. She enjoyed every minute of it. As a business owner, I’d want to know if my manager were acting this way and fire them...