Walgreens

I work at a doctors office and when I see that I need to contact this specific Walgreens store, I automatically cringe. I have never been in contact with such disrespectful staff members. When we call from our office, we are on a long wait time always, which would be OK if we were greeted nicely/properly. When they answer the phone, they do not say a word, they automatically put us right on hold for even longer. I cannot even count on one hand, how many times they picked up and just hung up, making us obligated to leave a voicemail. Our patients need us to speak with their pharmacies in a timely manner sometimes, which is why I press the option to "speak to pharmacy staff" yet get hung up on most of the time at this location. I have no issues with any other Walgreens locations. It is pathetic at Forbes drive.

Went to Walgreens on Forbes Ave in Martinsburg, WV on Friday August 6 to get two prescriptions filled. Both prescriptions were electronically filed by my physician in Cumberland, Maryland on Thursday. The clerk stated the prescriptions had not been filled and that it would be at least an hour. I started to leave and the Physician in Charge called me back to the desk. He stated that the prescriptions could not be filled because Cumberland was too far away from the pharmacy. He informed me that this was Walgreens policy since 2018. I told him that I had been getting the same two prescriptions filled for two going on three years without a problem and to check my prescription history. He again stated that the prescriptions could not be filled and that only the Pharmacy Manager could overrule him. He walked away from me and left me standing at the counter.
Contacted the store manager and asked her for the Pharmacy Managers contact information. She asked what the issue was, took my information and asked me to wait. 25 minutes later she came back and stated that they had contacted my physician and that they needed more information. She apologized and said that the prescription could not be filled.
Apparently Walgreens expects their Pharmacists to be Physicians and decide what the customer needs or doesn't need based upon Walgreens expectations and the limited information available in the prescription database which was also shared with the store manager.
Would they treat their parents like this?

Today I am having a maintenance prescription filled for testosterone cypionate 200mg per ml. I have had this prescription filled here for years. Lately when it is time to be filled it is held up "because of an insurance issue". I have to call back in after a couple of days and file a complaint in order to finally get this filled although the moment I do there is no longer any problem filling the prescription. I have also been treated like a drug addict when I try to buy the syringes in the appropriate quantity necessary to inject my testosterone prescription. That is ridiculous!
On september 12, 2020 I was on my way home from having had a full shoulder replacement on september 11. I had a pain prescription for hydrocodone. This same pharmacy held up filling this prescription for "an insurance issue" for 2 days until I filed a complaint again. Once I filed it was filled within 5 minutes. Can you imagine not having pain medication following a shoulder replacement for the first 2 days? Certainly my surgeon could not believe it! Even if they were trying to see if the prescription was valid they never called my surgeon's office to confirm.
Since I ran pharmacies for 35 years I know that these actions are ridiculous. While I recognize the need for caution it is irresponsible for any pharmacist to simply withhold a patient's prescription and ignore it until they complain.in the case of testosterone it is as simple as looking at the patient history and seeing that it is a maintenance drug being filled at the appropriate refill intervals. The same with the number of syringes being purchased. As to post major surgery withholding of pain medication the pharmacist should potentially have their license revoked. There is no acceptable reason why any pharmacist should not care about the legitimate pain of a patient. It is simply completely irresponsible and since I have filed complaints previously directly with walgreens it is apparent that they do not care enough to take any action to correct this issue on a permanent basis. Certainly I should never be placed in a position where I must make repeated phone calls in order to have appropriate, legally prescribed medications filled.