7 May 2021 – CVS, Walgreens, the healthcare system, capitalism and people really annoyed me today. So I am going outside my normal posts today. I have filled my prescriptions exclusively at Walgreens for the last ten years. I like being able to walk in and talk to the pharmacist easily and that it’s always an easy process to fill and pick up my prescriptions. They are more expensive than Walmart right across the street but I like the benefits enough to pay more. My insurance company recently modified their prescription providers and as of May 1, I could no longer fill my prescriptions at Walgreens. So, I had to move my prescriptions to an in-network pharmacy. Out of the pharmacies close to me, I had a choice between Kroger, Walmart and CVS. I didn’t choose Walmart because I don’t shop there and back when I did, the line at the pharmacy was always long, and they don’t have a drive-thru which I prefer. I didn’t choose Kroger because it is not as convenient and the parking lot is always a mess. So, I chose CVS. It’s only another mile down the road, but it’s not usually too busy and I have a couple of friends that use this CVS and have had great experiences. I need to fill my prescriptions so I needed to get them moved. I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and asked if she could just send new ones into CVS and she said since I still had so much still available on my current prescriptions that she couldn’t do that. These facts are the foundation for my story.

CVS suggested I call Walgreens and ask them about it. Guess what? I couldn’t get through on the phone with them. So, I drove to Walgreens and talked to them. They informed me that they had no record of the request and CVS would need to call them again.

Earlier this week, I put in a request with CVS to transfer my prescriptions. About thirty minutes later I got a notification from CVS that it was in the works. I kept an eye on things waiting for it to happen. As of today, 3 days later, I hadn’t heard anything and nothing had shown up in my CVS account. I decided I would contact CVS and find out what the deal was. I called CVS and of course, I could not get through on the phone. I drove to CVS and talked to them. They explained that based on the email I had received and their system, they had contacted Walgreens that first day and were still waiting for them to fax them the information.

So, I called CVS again, no answer. I drove to CVS again and they said they had called them and asked for the information. They said they would contact them again. I decided to stop at Walgreens again on my way home. This time they did a little more research and guess what Walgreens had received a phone call and the request but they had failed to fax over the information. I decided to stand there while the pharmacist faxed the information over to CVS and then she called them to ensure they had received everything. Finally. Well now it is 10 hours later and my prescriptions are no longer in my Walgreens account. However, they are not in my CVS account either. So after all that, it’s like they disappeared.

So, I am frustrated with Walgreens for the fact that I spent two hours running around like I was the idiot today when they screwed up. I am frustrated with CVS for telling me on the first day that my prescriptions would be ready in four hours and now it has been close to 85 hours and no prescriptions. I am now out of three medications and who knows when I will finally get all of this resolved. I am annoyed by the healthcare system that makes all of this so difficult to begin with. I am annoyed by capitalism that causes things like in-network and out-of-network pharmacies that caused me to have to go through all of this in the first place. I am annoyed by people that are less than nice. The pharmacist at Walgreens was rude to me and acted like I was an idiot despite the fact that she was the one who screwed up and later had to admit it. The pharmacy tech at CVS acted like I was bothering her and that it was my fault this was happening when I was just trying to do everyone’s job for them.

I was annoyed by much today, but I was pleased that I didn’t get angry or lose my cool, and just kept smiling and saying thank you.