this is a bit long, but so was our testing experience. My daughter and I booked a 4 day trip to Universal, staying at Sapphire Falls. Drove to Detroit the night before, and flew out Monday morning. Due to return to Canada Friday morning. I booked a test for both of us with Beeper MD Tuesday evening (6-8 pm) then later booked another at Walgreen's on Kirkman Road for Tuesday afternoon. The Walgreen's booking site is a bit wonky I think. You select a store, then fill in all your information and pick a test (PCR or ID Now) then have to pick the store again. More on that later.
On Tuesday afternoon, we order an Uber from CityWalk. It's a long walk to the Uber pick up which is at the very top of the parking garage. Finally found it, and got in and went to Walgreen's at the appointed time. Wait for a good 15 minutes in the Uber and finally pull up to the window. The worker has my info but not my daughter's. Apparently I booked my daughter at the wrong one. There are two other Walgreen's on Kirkman road. I think it happened when I selected the store the second time in the booking process. You can't book more than one person at a time, so you have to do the process for each person. The woman at the window couldn't / wouldn't help us. Says my D's info is not in her system, there's no way to get it, and no she can't ask the other store to send it over. She was very very slow in completing paperwork and really had no sense of urgency whatsoever. I do think that the drive thru also includes people picking up prescriptions as well. So, I have no idea where this other Walgreen's is, and the Uber already cost me over $30 US dollars, so I did my test and we returned to hotel.
At 5:30, I have not heard anything from BeeperMD. Do a bit of a search to find a 1-800 number and finally reach someone to ask if they are coming. She tells me that no one has "picked up" my appointment yet. I don't understand, so I ask multiple questions. Turns out that they put your appointment in the system and then a tester has to pick it up, like Uber drivers do. So I ask when I will know, since it's 5;30 and my testing time is between 6-8. She says someone still has 30 minutes to pick it up and I will get a text or email when someone does. I clarify that she can't confirm that someone is actually coming and she says that's correct. So we sit and wait. No one comes, and no text or email. We call again at 6:45, and are told that no one is taking it and they rescheduled us for 8 am next morning. That doesn't work for us, so we schedule Wednesday evening 6-8 and CONFIRM that we will get a text or email, since she says we should have received one. Confirm my contact info, and I received a text saying that an appointment is scheduled.
I don't want to spend another $30 + US for another Uber on Wednesday and the Walgreen's site says to call if you don't have a car and you can talk to a pharmacist. We planned to water taxi to Portofino Bay and then walk to Walgreen's and do the reverse on the way back. We finally get through the continuous loop of automation and tell Walgreen's we don't have a car. They say that's the only option. We ask why does their website say to call them if you have no car? They respond that it's to tell people that you must have a car. Yup.
on Wednesday, we call another Uber to go back to Walgreen's for my D. We arrived at 12:40 for a 12:45 appointment time, and there are 3 other cars in front of us. We do not move at all for 15 minutes. In an Uber. We are finally seen at 1:17. Poor Uber driver did not plan on waiting 1/2 hour for us in a line. My daughter gets her test, and the same worker as the day before is there. She is slow, slow, slow.
Still kept the Beeper MD appointment for that night, just in case. But no one comes, and we don't receive a text or email. I use the online chat to try and get an answer and get an automatic "thanks for reaching out to us". That's it. And now it's Friday and I never heard anything from them. At all. Ever.
But there's more. Walgreen's gave us a tracking number for both our tests. I look up mine Wednesday evening, and the lab (Aegis Lab) has not received my sample. On Thursday around 1 pm, lab still has not received our samples. I call Walgreen's to find out if my sample is still there, and she says that it's shipped once a day at 5 pm. Fed Ex sends it from Walgreen's to the lab and Fed Ex is experiencing shipping delays. She can't track our samples because once it leaves Walgreen's they have nothing to do with it. I tell her that I booked the PCR test for me and the ID Now (rapid molecular) for my daughter. She says not possible, that her location doesn't offer the ID Now. I said well I booked it on your website, so... Anyway we had a bit of a back and forth and she was less than helpful. Basically they are short staffed and also don't offer the test that's listed. I told her to doublecheck the website because I specifically picked the rapid test for my D.
so now I call AegisLabs. Guy says nope, he can see in the computer that they haven't received our samples. Says Walgreen's can take 72 hours to ship it to them, and they can take 48 hours for testing. I am flabbergasted. I said that's 5 days from the time of testing. He says that Walgreen's is aware of this, so in my mind, Walgreen's is misleading everyone by saying results available. in 72 hours. You might get them, but you might get them in 5 days.
so because our flight is at 8:30 am the next day, we are panicking. I book a rapid molecular test for both of us at Meijer in Detroit for when we land.
We googled other places in Orlando to get tests, but there wasn't much to choose from. The closest CVS had no available times left that evening. So we are banking on Meijer or else we have to spend another night in Detroit before we cross. Before I went to bed, I check again, and the lab still didn't have our samples.
Wake up Friday morning at 6 am, and we had emails that were delivered at 4 am with test results. Negative thank god. So we get to airport and complete our ArriveCan app and cancel the Meijer appointments.
And the border agent did ask to see our test results.
sorry for the very very long post. I just want people to be aware that you can't rely on Beeper MD. It's just a request, not an appointment. And as far as I'm concerned, Walgreen's was not a good choice either. Not sure what other options there are.
On Tuesday afternoon, we order an Uber from CityWalk. It's a long walk to the Uber pick up which is at the very top of the parking garage. Finally found it, and got in and went to Walgreen's at the appointed time. Wait for a good 15 minutes in the Uber and finally pull up to the window. The worker has my info but not my daughter's. Apparently I booked my daughter at the wrong one. There are two other Walgreen's on Kirkman road. I think it happened when I selected the store the second time in the booking process. You can't book more than one person at a time, so you have to do the process for each person. The woman at the window couldn't / wouldn't help us. Says my D's info is not in her system, there's no way to get it, and no she can't ask the other store to send it over. She was very very slow in completing paperwork and really had no sense of urgency whatsoever. I do think that the drive thru also includes people picking up prescriptions as well. So, I have no idea where this other Walgreen's is, and the Uber already cost me over $30 US dollars, so I did my test and we returned to hotel.
At 5:30, I have not heard anything from BeeperMD. Do a bit of a search to find a 1-800 number and finally reach someone to ask if they are coming. She tells me that no one has "picked up" my appointment yet. I don't understand, so I ask multiple questions. Turns out that they put your appointment in the system and then a tester has to pick it up, like Uber drivers do. So I ask when I will know, since it's 5;30 and my testing time is between 6-8. She says someone still has 30 minutes to pick it up and I will get a text or email when someone does. I clarify that she can't confirm that someone is actually coming and she says that's correct. So we sit and wait. No one comes, and no text or email. We call again at 6:45, and are told that no one is taking it and they rescheduled us for 8 am next morning. That doesn't work for us, so we schedule Wednesday evening 6-8 and CONFIRM that we will get a text or email, since she says we should have received one. Confirm my contact info, and I received a text saying that an appointment is scheduled.
I don't want to spend another $30 + US for another Uber on Wednesday and the Walgreen's site says to call if you don't have a car and you can talk to a pharmacist. We planned to water taxi to Portofino Bay and then walk to Walgreen's and do the reverse on the way back. We finally get through the continuous loop of automation and tell Walgreen's we don't have a car. They say that's the only option. We ask why does their website say to call them if you have no car? They respond that it's to tell people that you must have a car. Yup.
on Wednesday, we call another Uber to go back to Walgreen's for my D. We arrived at 12:40 for a 12:45 appointment time, and there are 3 other cars in front of us. We do not move at all for 15 minutes. In an Uber. We are finally seen at 1:17. Poor Uber driver did not plan on waiting 1/2 hour for us in a line. My daughter gets her test, and the same worker as the day before is there. She is slow, slow, slow.
Still kept the Beeper MD appointment for that night, just in case. But no one comes, and we don't receive a text or email. I use the online chat to try and get an answer and get an automatic "thanks for reaching out to us". That's it. And now it's Friday and I never heard anything from them. At all. Ever.
But there's more. Walgreen's gave us a tracking number for both our tests. I look up mine Wednesday evening, and the lab (Aegis Lab) has not received my sample. On Thursday around 1 pm, lab still has not received our samples. I call Walgreen's to find out if my sample is still there, and she says that it's shipped once a day at 5 pm. Fed Ex sends it from Walgreen's to the lab and Fed Ex is experiencing shipping delays. She can't track our samples because once it leaves Walgreen's they have nothing to do with it. I tell her that I booked the PCR test for me and the ID Now (rapid molecular) for my daughter. She says not possible, that her location doesn't offer the ID Now. I said well I booked it on your website, so... Anyway we had a bit of a back and forth and she was less than helpful. Basically they are short staffed and also don't offer the test that's listed. I told her to doublecheck the website because I specifically picked the rapid test for my D.
so now I call AegisLabs. Guy says nope, he can see in the computer that they haven't received our samples. Says Walgreen's can take 72 hours to ship it to them, and they can take 48 hours for testing. I am flabbergasted. I said that's 5 days from the time of testing. He says that Walgreen's is aware of this, so in my mind, Walgreen's is misleading everyone by saying results available. in 72 hours. You might get them, but you might get them in 5 days.
so because our flight is at 8:30 am the next day, we are panicking. I book a rapid molecular test for both of us at Meijer in Detroit for when we land.
We googled other places in Orlando to get tests, but there wasn't much to choose from. The closest CVS had no available times left that evening. So we are banking on Meijer or else we have to spend another night in Detroit before we cross. Before I went to bed, I check again, and the lab still didn't have our samples.
Wake up Friday morning at 6 am, and we had emails that were delivered at 4 am with test results. Negative thank god. So we get to airport and complete our ArriveCan app and cancel the Meijer appointments.
And the border agent did ask to see our test results.
sorry for the very very long post. I just want people to be aware that you can't rely on Beeper MD. It's just a request, not an appointment. And as far as I'm concerned, Walgreen's was not a good choice either. Not sure what other options there are.
