Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Rite Aid's Awful Customer Service

We used to have our prescriptions filled at Rite Aid because it's close, open late, and parking isn't a problem. However, it wasn't cheap, the customer service was terrible, and prescriptions were never ready in a timely manner.

When I was pregnant, I needed a prescription filled, and a friend was going to pick it up for me. My doctor called it in, and I called Rite Aid to confirm. They seemed busy, but gave me a time frame. I did a follow up call, and it wasn't ready. I called again, and it wasn't ready. I kept getting the brush-off and they stopped answering my calls at one point. Finally, someone answered and I really started to lay into her. It was hours later and my doctor's office would be closing soon. The person I was on the phone with said she'd get it done and call me back within 30 minutes. She didn't. I called my doctor's office and asked her to call the prescription in to another pharmacy. This new place, Horton & Converse, was so much better. Despite having never been there, they were able to accept my insurance information over the phone, fill my prescription, and allow my friend to pick it up without any trouble. They're only open 9-6:30 during the week and until 1 on Saturday, but unless we have an off-hours emergency, I don't foresee ever using Rite-Aid, Walgreens, or any other large corporate store again. I later called Rite Aid to leave a complaint, but I never heard back. I have no doubt that they just don't care about one lowly customer.

So at Rite Aid, I experienced years of:

Bad customer service
Long waits
Understaffed pharmacy
Large, carless corporations

Why did I tolerate this for so long? I hate knowing that I just put up with it because the hours seemed convenient, but in all honesty, I seldom needed a prescription filled late. In my attempt to patronize smaller stores, I've found such better attention and customer service. Prices can be higher, though not necessarily. And at the end of the day, patronizing small stores assures they'll be around when you realize you just don't want to be ignored by the Rite Aids of the world.

1 comments:

LJNDawson said...

Amazing. Just amazing.

You might think about sharing this experience at www.measuredup.com - it's a consumer website where shoppers can vent or at least get the word out. It's pretty cool.