Duane Reade — Local services in New York

I Have been living in this neighborhood for 36 years, born and raised. I use to go to kings pharmacy for my medications but unfortunately they relocated to Manhattan (SO SAD) so my medications had to be transferred and I choose this place, only because it is a block away from kings pharmacy. When I tell you this is the WORSEEEEEEEEEE, ABSOLUTE WORSEEEE pharmacy I have EVER experienced in my life, please believe me. Rude, dismissive, slow on purpose staff ever. They never want to answer the phones, one time I had to call another department just to get ANYONE on the phone. To only be placed on hold for over 30 minutes while people picked up the phone and place it back on hold. And because I live in the area, I walked over there WHILE on hold went inside to see 6 individuals behind the counter with only 1 person working WHILE ON HOLD. So to my fellow consumers, please go somewhere else if you need medications (there are a few gems in the area you can go to). And because of this, I will never be a customer for this place, EVER. If I could give it a -5, I really would. And I'm sure Duane Reade, as a whole don't care really because they make money regardless of the fact but one day, ONE DAY this place will come in contact of a person that won't just give a bad review, like myself. Really and truly horrible pharmacy. If I need medications and this was the only pharmacy available, I would get my medications through amazon...

I do not doubt that every Duane Reade pharmacy is horribly dysfunctional but wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn that this one is the worst in all of Brooklyn. I’ve waited on hold for close to an hour, more than once, before giving up, and have been forced several times to drop by the location to wait on long lines that almost invariably lead nowhere since everyone who works here appears to be incompetent. My doctor spent more than an hour on the phone with them to convince these people to fill two prescriptions that required no preauthorization, though the pharmacy kept claiming the opposite. He sent over a fax which finally convinced a pharmacist to fill them. Why didn’t these people do their own homework? Beats me. No one notified me when the prescriptions were filled, needless to say, so I had to call and wait on hold for 15 minutes to confirm they were ready for pick up. Afterwards, when I went to get them, they made me wait to consult with a pharmacist who was busy administering Covid shots even though I’ve been on this medication for years. When she finished with the shots our consultation lasted half a second. She said nothing at all. And it took them close to 2 weeks to dispense my prescription.

The manager here, the man responsible for this pathetic mess, is named Muhammad, I’m told, but good luck contacting him. This may be the fastest way to get anyone’s...

This is the most inefficient and unorganized pharmacy I’ve ever had the misfortune of frequenting, and unfortunately, it’s also the busiest. Lines snake around the store and it takes 30+ minutes to pick up a prescription. Half the time there’s an issue with insurance or some other hold-up that they didn’t communicate beforehand, which means that a quick pickup turns into a 20-minute conversation. There are 3 cash registers that are never fully staffed, even at rush hour, so if that happens to you, everyone behind you suffers too.

The only thing that made this place tolerable was a little-known pay ahead system through the pharmacy website, which gave you a QR code to scan and allowed you to skip the line. But of course, Duane Reade/Walgreens discontinued that feature!! Learning this today was the last straw, and I am definitely, finally switching pharmacies. I liked using a chain because I wanted flexibility to pick up near home or work, but I have spent way too much of my life waiting in line here to justify that anymore. I’m switching to a local pharmacy, and I suggest you do too.

Edited to add: the pharmacists and cashiers themselves have always been pleasant, but the way this place is managed, and the horrible policy decisions by corporate, mean I can’t give anything...