CVS — Local services in Newton

The review given four months ago by B.C. sounds exactly like the review that I would have given to the CVS store on Washington St in Weymouth, I live on the S. Shore (miles away from Newton) but about three months ago, I switched to the Newton Center Street CVS because of some very unpleasant and unacceptable customer service situations at the Weymouth CVS. (For over a year, there has been an issue about a brand name medication vs. the generic version of the med. My insurance covers the brand name since my prescribing physician has always specified that "no substitutions" are allowed. ) Without going into further personal details, the CVS Newton provided me the best customer care that I have ever received from a pharmacy, I''m driving there today to pick up a refill (the brand name med but with a higher co-pay, which is fine by me) and hoping that the same pharmacy team, who helped me three months ago, will be working today. This may sound corny, but I've been telling family and friends that "not all CVS pharmacies are created equal". I'll revisit this review should things go South with the Newton CVS. Though gas prices are high, for now I'd rather drive miles away to Newton than deal with the other CVS...

The employees at this pharmacy give every sign of absolutely hating their jobs, and what they hate most of all is dealing with the public. By “public” I mean the customers who patronize the pharmacy and have the misfortune of being subjected to the almost incredible incompetence and hostility of said employees while supplying CVS with the profits from which the employees’ wages are paid. In fact, the pharmacists seem to take a kind of pride in seeing who can be the most incompetent and the most unpleasant to deal with; they regard themselves as an oppressed minority standing in solidarity against The Man--meaning in reality, the hapless citizens of Newton who must come here to get our prescriptions filled. This applies equally to staff who supposedly occupy supervisory roles but have no more interest than their subordinates in taking responsibility for anything. Customers like me who must use CVS because our insurers require it are subjected to abuse from these malcontents on a regular basis. If you are lucky enough not to be in that position, I suggest you take your prescriptions and run, don’t walk, as far away as you can from this hotbed of...

In a long life this is the worst run business I've ever dealt with. I've been filling the exact same prescription using the exact same insurance in this pharmacy for more than 5 years, and nonetheless they manage to screw it up every single time--I mean, every time, no exceptions. They do not answer their phone obviously as a matter of policy, not only because of chronic understaffing. They advertise free delivery but it is obviously not possible, again by design, to get delivery. They always, always, forget to apply my insurance and make me wait every single time I fill my prescriptions (2 of them, both very common medications) while they sort out the paperwork. The staff are rude and do not know their business. I continue to go here ONLY because it's required by my drug insurer, Caremark, under my employer's policy. If CVS didn't have massive contracts with big insurance companies they couldn't possibly stay in business with this level of ongoing incompetence and dishonesty. Such systemic malpractice is all about growing profits by slashing...