Here is a copy of the letter I sent through the corporate Walgreens web site. I will not be shopping there any more. Grrrr! - Laura


I just wanted to let you know that I will not be shopping at Walgreens any more. I can also promise that several other people will join me, and more will think twice.

I went through the drive in yesterday because I needed to pick up a prescription. Additionally I needed some sunblock for my 8 year old to wear at her swimming lessons. We also had our dog in the car, and it was very hot (mid 90s) outside.

I told the employee that I needed some spray on sunblock but I did not care what size or brand. She told me that that was not her job. I explained the situation - dog in car, on the way to swimming lessons - but she still refused. I had to park, leave the dog in the heat, and spend more time to go inside and buy some sun block after I had already waited in line at the drive through.

I was under the impression that the drive through was for convenience. Additionally, much of your advertising seems to focus on your "excellent customer service." If I had asked for a soda and a bag of chips that would be one thing; but sunblock falls in the necessities category. I am not impressed and I will henceforth shop at CVS or local drugstores where the employees actually try to be helpful.

I additionally took the time to call the manager. He informed me that, "employees are too busy to go grocery shopping for every one." This was not an adequate response.

wow...cvs brags they do this without any problems...time to call cvs and get some $25 new or transferred gift card coupons cause it sounds like you will be switching!! Just call their extra care dept and they will send you one coupon per card every 6 months!
1 800 shop cvs

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I'm sorry....I have to agree with Walgreens on this one.

The purpose of that drive through is for prescriptions only....and furthermore, for people who are dropping off or picking-up prescriptions that do not require extra care. You should not need to have a conversation with the pharmacist, nor should you have any questions about your prescription or insurance....that is not what that window was designed for.

I've also been in a situation where I just need one item on top of my prescription, but the people behind the pharmacy counter are strictly there fill prescription needs.

I agree with you that the tone of the manager was unprofessional, but I think you should evaluate the purpose of that window....it is not for your "shopping" convenience....nor is it McDonalds.

I was not under the impression that prescription drive throughs would shop for you. Perhaps they would keep a small selection of OTC meds that might be needed in addittion to the Rx at the ready (tyleonol/cough syrup/etc), but I would not have included sunscreen in the list. Employee should have not said "not my job", but instead that they weren't able to provide that service at the drive-thru. It's also hard to say how OP reacted given the situationand whether the employee might have had his/her buttons pushed.

cj/

Sorry, but I agree with Walgreens also. The pharmacist is not a shopping assistant. Sunblock is no located in the pharmacy part.

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Mary

Hey do they have a Publix near where you live... (they don't here ) but I just saw this article this morning and I thought WOW !

Can you say FREE?!?!?!?

Publix Super Market to offer free antibiotics -Privately held grocer will provide a 14-day supply for 7 different drugs at no cost for customers with prescriptions.

Publix Super Market to offer some antibiotics for free - Aug. 6, 2007


X

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Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

I'll have to say, if I were behind you trying to get prescriptions for a sick child (and I often am in that position) and someone asked for something other than a Rx at the window, I'd probably tell you to park and go inside.

No offense meant, but the drive-thru window is for prescriptions only, right? I mean it's sort of like going to the drive-thru at the bank and applying for a loan - some things you have to go inside for.

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Catt
~ Mirror Mirror on the wall, I am my mother - after all! ~

You should have left the dog at home so you could go inside and get the sunscreen you needed. The drive thru is for prescriptions only, not your personal shopping assistant.

I am on WG's side as well. The tone was wrong but they aren't personal shoppers and if you are getting non-prescription items, you need to go inside

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I think you shouldn't send the letter. I'm with Walgreen's on this one, too. Drive-thru is for prescription pickup, not personal shopper. If I had been behind you in line, I would have been upset and I would have probably wrote a letter to Walgreen's complaining about you!!

Does Walgreen's advertise the window for anything other than prescription pickup? I know our local CVS has a drive-through prescription pickup, but it is exclusively for quick pickups so you don't have to take sick kids in the store, or drag yourself in there with the flu.

Customer service is a lost skill in many, many places, but I have to agree with Walgreen's on this. They should have handled it more courteously, but as the other posters have stated, I would not like to be behind someone in line, waiting to pick up a scrip for a sick child, and have to wait while the employees were shopping for them.

How irritated do you get when your in the drive-thru at McDonald's and someone can't decide what they want (it's McDonald's--the menu is not that complicated!). Or they special order something that causes you to have to wait extra (cheeseburger w/ no pickles--COME ON! Why can't you take the pickles off AFTER you get it.)

How frustrating is it to have to wait in line behind customer at WalMart who suddenly realizes that their world will stop unless they run back and get a box of cookies--meanwhile you have 3 items, have a sick kid at home, need to pick up the other kid at school and all you want to do is pay for your items and get on the road.
while I understand your frustration and irritation, I think that your anger is misguided. The drive-up/drive-thru is not there for your personal shopping, but for your convenience of dropping off or picking up PRESCRIPTIONS only.

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Wow...looks like people actually agree with me today! I should write this down on the calendar!

I'm sorry, but I'm not even confident that the tone of the employee or manager was wrong, OP, given the level of expectations you have of the role they should play in your shopping trips. Reading your paraphrase without the benefit of the exact words and facial expressions, and without benefit of knowing your reaction/response, I can't judge them as being good or bad.

Did the pharmacist say, "That's not my job, lady. It's beneath me! Deal with it!"?

Or did she say, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but our drive-thru registers will only ring up pharmaceuticals. I'll need to have you come inside to purchase grocery items"??

I would assume that the pharmacy is a secured area and that for her to go wandering around to locate sunscreen (do you even know that she knew where it was located in the store? I always get lost in there!) would leave something unattended.

Please, this is a joke, right? You didn't really think it was the job of the drive-through person to be your personal shopper, did you? You have to be kidding.

Is this true? CVS will shop for you at their Rx drive-thru?

cj/

Walgreen's specifically advertises them as "drive-through pharmacies," not as "drive-through personal shopping services for when you didn't think ahead enough to realize you're out of sunscreen and don't want to have to worry about your dog sitting in your hot car for five minutes and don't think you should leave your 8 year old standing outside of the store with the dog."

"Is this true? CVS will shop for you at their Rx drive-thru?

cj/"

No that is not true. Drive through pharmacies are for prescriptions. And I have to agree with Walgreens. If they do it for you, then they have to do it for the 15 people behind you and the next thing you know, people are doing half their shopping this way hence taking away from the speed or convience of the drive through.

I doubt it. At our CVS you can hardly get someone to the window to just get your prescription.

I also, agree Walgreens was in the right this time, IMO. Sorry.

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I'm with everyone else- the window at Walgreens is for prescriptions not shopping. I know you only needed one item but if I remember right- the sunscreen is on the other side of the store from the pharmacy at our Walgreens. I don't think the person in the pharmacy was rude at all. The manager might have phrased it a little better but again- I don't think out of line.

I know if I had been either waiting inside for a prescription or behind you at that window I would have gotten angry at the long wait.

Sorry but I don't think Walgreens is at fault at all

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Sunblock is a necessity. I have to assume that you knew ahead of time that your daughter was going to be taking swim lessons? Why did you not take the time to make sure you had plenty of sunblock over the weekend? That would have been the responsible thing to do.

If you go to Target and remember at the checkout that you need tampons do you think it is the cashier's place or job to run back to HBA to get them for you? NO! I think not!!

Geez! What a sense of entitlement.

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Our CVS has a sign that says it will pick up extra items for you when you drop off your prescription and have them ready for you when you pick them up. I doubt they would get sunscreen for you when you are picking up a prescription unless you asked them ahead of time.

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I agree with this whole heartedly. My husband is a pharmacist at Walgreens. (25yrs) The window is just for prescriptions only! His pharmacy fills anywhere from 400-600 scripts a day, they don't have time to do other things as well. Plus the sunscreen at our walgreens is all the way up by the front door. I agree that the manager could have been more polite, but he could have been in a bad mood from other customers being unruly.

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I am sorry I feel for you but I have to agree with most posters. The Drive Up window is for prescriptons only. Otherwise why should they get your sunscreen and not my maxi pads? Or someone's pop and chips? Soon it would become a drive through store where people just drive up and get any item and then there goes the convenience. The drive up pharmacy window was instituted (at all stores) as a convenience for sick people and/or caregivers to the sick. It is there so sick people don't have to go into the store and so if you have a sick child or elderly person you don't have to take them out.

Normally I am on the customers' side however this time I am the store's side.

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I think one of the problems in today's society is people's expectations when it comes to customer service. People now expect employees to do whatever they want whenever they want it. Society has adopted the attitude of "the customer is always right" and the majority of people push this as far as they can get away with it. I worked fast food and retail many years and see it every single day.

I even disagree that sunscreen is a necessity. It may be for your kids, just like something else off the shelf might be something my kids "need", but that doesn't make it a necessity like food or water.

Really, just about the only 'necessity' one might get at Walgreens IS a script.

You can get at the drive-thru an item that you could not get off the shelf - a controlled substance.

For all off-the-shelf items, expect to go to the shelves yourself.

I SO WISH someone did offer this service though. I am a single mom and 2 years ago had pneumonia. I was living in another state away from my family with no close friends to help. I had to go get a couple of prescriptions but also needed soup and juice. No I didn't expect anyone to do this for me, but as sick as I was it would have been a GREAT SERVICE to have. I've also had shingles in the past and did not want to go into a store and expose others to my contagious disease. It would be wonderful to be able to get this type of service when picking up scripts and you are just TOO SICK to go in. However, given this situation, the pharmacist was right. You could leave the 8 year old in the car with the dog. Or send the kid in to get the sunblock? At any rate, you should have planned it better.

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Wouldn't that be a great service. A drive through grocery store. Have a 20 item limit just to keep folks moving through quickly. OMG, I would so use that. Forget having to be made up to go to the store, I could go in my stained up sweats. The easy of not having to drag kids through a grocery especially when they are tired. Man, someone should do this!

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Farm stores do have drive through, on both sides for those of you wanting to know. It's mainly a gas station. So this concept does exist.

Failure to plan on the op's part, selfishness and a sense of entitlement among what is going on. An apology would be due to Walgreensin this situation.

I can't even imagine you would be so upset. WG is a drive tru for phamacy only. I worked as a pharmacy tech and would have given you the same response. What a shame that our society has become so demanding as to expect others to serve us because we have inconvenienced ourselves. DO you have a manager that SHE can complain to?

I would not have left my dog in the car either! He suffered because of the situation YOU put yourself in!




"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for, perfection is God's business" Micheal J. Fox

The OP's request was unreasonable, but the WG personnel could have been gentler in explaining why they can't offer this service.

I am quite appalled that she even had the nerve to write a letter! As another poster said..What a sense of entitlement! I wouldnt even THINK of asking them to go get me sunblock, where in the world did you ever get the impression that you could do this?

Furthermore, I am confused as to why the dog was even with you on the way to swim lessons? You created chaos for yourself and expected Walgreens to bail you out.
And your child was in the car with you, watching you handle this all wrong. I would let the child know you made a mistake.

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Jill
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Mom to Joey (8) and Gianna (6)

Couldn't you have borrowed some sunscreen from a friend at the swim class - or, perhaps they sell sunscreen at the swim class location that you could have borrowed this one time. Just a thought!

Personally, I don't appreciate it when people take FOREVER (or at least it seems like that) when I am driving thru to pick up some meds. I am usually tired, or sick and just don't have the patience or time.

I can imagine how you would be irritated, but I don't believe the employee should have shopped for you - they have too many customers and meds to keep track of. I would hate to imagine what would happen if they got distracted, and than gave out the wrong meds. Yikes - that's a scary thought!!

When I lived in Houston in the 80s, they had drive through beer stores! Don't know if they still do though....doesn't seem very PC....LOL....

cj/

This is a hoot!! I would never in a million years think to ask the person at the pharmacy window to get me something off the shelf to purchase. Too funny OP!

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All the cool babies are wearing cloth!

I really don't think the OP had a sense of entitlement. I think she genuinely felt Walgreens offered this type of service when using the drive thru, particularly since she was picking up a prescription at the same time.

I do agree with Walgreens, though. Hopefully, OP, you can understand their position and reason they could not accommodate you in that manner.

I hope you feel better today.

.

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Well ... 'someone DOES do this service'! I do. Maybe not a drive up window at the store - but there are plenty of personal shoppers or errand services around that will pick anything you need and deliver it to your home, office, or wherever. I will pick up scripts, sunscreen and other necessities, groceries - just about anything you need, and bring it to your door. I specialize in elderly clients who have mobility issues or who no longer drive, but I have other clients that are just too busy, as well. I will also go to the bank, drycleaners, post office, take your items in for repair, etc.

And/or, there is usually a grocery store around that will deliver your order. Safeway and Albertsons come to mind.

Wow, I am so glad I am not in retail anymore. I guess you can't please some people. Perhaps had the walgreens manager brought the suntan lotion out to her at half price, along with a bone for the dog and a ice tea for them to drink she would have written a letter of appreciation instead . lol