CVS — Local services in Washington

If I could give zero stars, I would. I pre-ordered a protest poster online, thinking CVS would be able to handle a simple print job. Big mistake.

I arrived at the store and no one was at the photo/printing station. I waited around 10 minutes before finally tracking down a manager, which took another 10 minutes. When someone finally came to assist, she spent forever fumbling with the card swipe machine, clearly not trained or equipped to do her job.

Then I saw the print. My design—clearly centered and formatted when submitted—had been printed randomly in the corner of a giant poster board. Just a tiny image awkwardly floating in a sea of white. No explanation, no apology.

Turns out, they didn’t have the size I ordered. Rather than informing me, they just printed it incorrectly and hoped I’d accept it. When I asked if she could cut it down to size, she audibly huffed and puffed, complaining that her hand was injured, and then proceeded to butcher the cuts—uneven angles, parts of the design missing, and huge, ugly borders left over.

To make it worse, the material was wrong. I ordered a sturdy poster board suitable for holding up at a protest. What I got was a giant sticker slapped on thin backing. When I questioned it, the employee insisted it was "poster board" until I literally peeled the sticker off in front of her.

She then said she was "confused" and passed me off to the manager—only to immediately start helping the next customer like nothing had happened.

I left without a usable poster, late for my appointment, and incredibly pissed off. Completely unprofessional, unprepared, and unwilling to take responsibility. Avoid this CVS at all costs if you value your time,...

Date/Location: August 20, 2025 – CVS, Washington, DC (around 9:20 AM)

This was my first time visiting this CVS while in DC for an appointment. I stopped by for passport photos and had two very different customer service experiences.

On the first floor, I was warmly greeted by a helpful associate who kindly directed me upstairs for photos. She was courteous, professional, and set a positive tone for my visit.

On the second floor, however, my experience was the complete opposite. The associate there was unwelcoming, didn’t acknowledge a simple greeting, and was dismissive throughout the interaction. When I attempted to pay with a $100 bill, she curtly told me, “It’s too early, I don’t have change—everyone uses a card. Don’t you have one?” I asked if she could get change downstairs, and she replied, “You can, but I can’t.” The entire exchange felt unnecessarily unpleasant.

I eventually paid with a card, thanked her (which went unacknowledged), and went back downstairs. I approached the first associate and asked if she could break the bill. Without hesitation, she said “of course!” and returned with change right away. That stark difference left me thinking—one employee had just reminded me why I should avoid CVS in the future, while the other restored my faith in good customer service.

I hope CVS takes note of this inconsistency. Your employees are the face of your brand—some clearly elevate it, while...

A week ago (July 6) I called this CVS and ordered refills of 3 prescriptions, asking that they be sent to me USPS. By Sunday 7/12 I hadn't received anything. I called again, and the person on the phone said he'd send them out right away by some private service and would call me when he'd done so. No phone call, again. Then my cleaning lady came in with a bag from CVS which they'd simply left on the sidewalk outside my condo building, without buzzing my unit to tell me it was there. Not good. When I opened it, I found 3 medications that I had not ordered, 2 that I had, and that 1 that I'd ordered hadn't been included. At that point I called the CVS "Customer Service" 800 number, and the very nice woman there was appalled at the totally inadequate service, and while putting me on hold (which she asked permission to do) she called the pharmacy herself. It took us 20-30 minutes, all told, but she set things straight, arranged that my insurance would not be billed for the meds I didn't want, and told me that the pharmacist would re-send the med I did want, USPS, the next morning. So she was helpful and got the job done. Unfortunately, the staff at the pharmacy blew it completely. (The customer service rep also passed the whole story up the pipeline to CVS management, so I hope they do something at least to try to make sure this won't happen again. I...