Target Pharmacy

[Chaoster]

This is a bit of a vent. It is one of those situations where if it isn't broken don't fix it. I normally go to Walmart for my Prescriptions. I drop off scripts and say I'll be back later. Usually about 25-30 minutes later I get an automated call that it's ready to be picked-up. The lines are long for pick-up, and I don't like the blister packs they use for two of my meds. I figure I'll give Target a try. Drop off, fill out form, They ask when will I pick up. I said later. They said when like 2 or 3 or 4 o'clock. I said 3 o'clock. This was 11:50 am. I go back at 2:50pm. They don't find the prescriptions. Two minutes pass, they tech finds the bag and says, you said 3 o'clock it's not ready. I'm like you have to be kidding. Just because I said 3 they are going to wait till 3. What did they do for 3 hours. It's not like they were super busy. I worked in a pharmacy before even if they were super super busy it does not take 3 hours to fill prescriptions. The most would be about an 1hr to 1 1/2hr. even if it was for 3 I would think it would be ready by 2:50. I figure if they wanted to be technical so would I. Waited till 3:00pm on the dot. Used clock on my cell phone and atomic watch. Asked if it was ready, its 3 O'clock. Tech said just a couple of minutes. I said okay and left. It wasn't ready. I guess its back to walmart.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

You probably spent more time posting this than waiting for that prescription. I see how this is annoying, but it's just not a big deal and now you have to go back once again to pick it up. There is no way for you to know how busy they got while you were gone. If you wanted it right away, you should have just waited after dropping off.

 

[mrsklamc]

Since you have no idea how busy they were when you were gone or what else they had to get done besides fill prescriptions, I am really confused. It seems like your complaint is that they didn't have it ready before you told them you would be back, which is silly, and also irritated that they didn't have it ready at EXACTLY 3pm- neither of which makes any sense to me at all.

 

[mommy2twingles]

I have never had an issue with my Target. We usually call in our refills but even when I have to take in a new script it is ready in the time they tell me, with very few exceptions.

 

[cornflake]

Agree you have no idea how busy they were or how they prioritize.

They could have had lots of walk-ups, they could have had lots of automatic fills they had to do, they could have had a ton of prescriptions called or emailed in from people who wanted to pick up that afternoon.

Did you ever ask 'how much longer/how long will it take you?' at any point?

I've used Target and they, you know, say that. Either something like 'just give me 20 minutes' or 'can you come back in....' or 'when do you need it by?'

If you had said 3, come back at exactly 3, and they'd said 'just a couple more minutes' would you be this annoyed? Because that seems like exactly what happened, except you got there 10 minutes prior and somehow thought they had it but wouldn't give it to you until 3 on the dot when it actually just sounds like they got busy or put it in a 'to be done later/afternoon/whatever' bin because you said you didn't need it until 3 and it was noon at the time and they had stuff to do in the interim.

 

[momto2inKC]

I agree with the others, they could've been busy and you just didn't realize it. Most of the dr's around here send prescriptions over the computer these days. They could've had a bunch of those they were processing. Since you told them you'd come back later they probably were working on all the other prescriptions.
I love my Target pharmacy! Never had a single issue with them.

 

[momto2inKC]

I guess its back to walmart.

Now they are the WORST around here!

 

[Chaoster]

Like I said I worked in a pharmacy in NYC. It was high volume There was no way a prescription would take 3 hours to fill unless there was a problem where they had to call INS. or MD to clarify something. We had phone in scripts and refills. People who waited. You don't know pissed off until you see a VP for a big corp. come and say they want their prescription filled right now. You could look in the bins where the scripts sit and tell how busy they are. Like I said in Manhattan it took no more than an hour and a half to fill a script. We put the scripts in the order they come in even if someone said they will be back after work and they drop it off at lunch. It is ready well before 5 pm everyone needs to catch the train home. I an just saying its pretty dumb to leave the script aside and wait till exactly 3pm. I have also been to other pharmacy's like CVS and the like. You tell them you'll be back in a few hours it's ready in less than 1.

 

[Pesky]

Sorry to hear you got some 'tude there. We use our local Target pharmacy and aside from running low on liquids sometimes (which they quickly fixed), we've had great service with ours. They've actually gone out of their way to fill the Rx quickly when I have waited with one or both of our kids.

 

[mrspaha]

I usually tell them I'll just wait, especially at a Target or Walmart. Coming back in a few hours is such a hassle -- I spend more time parking the car, walking from the car to the store, and then thru store to get to the pharmacy then the 15-20 minutes I would spend just waiting there. If they know you're waiting, it seems they put you ahead of the ones that are called in or auto-refilled.

The thing I don't like about Target pharmacy (at least at the few near my house) is that they close the pharmacy from 1:00 - 2:00 everyday. A few times I forgot about it, and had to sit around waiting for them to reopen.

For the most part, I get my prescriptions at CVS -- if it's an auto refill, I just use the drive-thru which is wonderful.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I usually tell them I'll just wait, especially at a Target or Walmart. Coming back in a few hours is such a hassle -- I spend more time parking the car, walking from the car to the store, and then thru store to get to the pharmacy then the 15-20 minutes I would spend just waiting there. If they know you're waiting, it seems they put you ahead of the ones that are called in or auto-refilled.

The thing I don't like about Target pharmacy (at least at the few near my house) is that they close the pharmacy from 1:00 - 2:00 everyday. A few times I forgot about it, and had to sit around waiting for them to reopen.

For the most part, I get my prescriptions at CVS -- if it's an auto refill, I just use the drive-thru which is wonderful.

You have to watch CVS. If you have an insurance card on file they charge the $10 copay even if the prescription costs less. I had 5 prescriptions filled when DH hurt his back. I paid $10 each--$50. When our EOB came a few weeks later, the insurance showed each costing a couple dollars for a total of $12.xx! I went to the pharmacy and showed them the paper and said I was overcharged but they said they HAD to charge the $10 each because my card was on file. Other pharmacies have the $4 prescriptions and the like and are more honest. I am sure anywhere else would have charged me the lesser amounts.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I love the Target pharmacy. When our insurance went to the mail order with the third month free, I really missed the pharmacy staff there.
I did not care for Wal-Mart. Too busy and not enough staff.

 

[cornflake]

Like I said I worked in a pharmacy in NYC. It was high volume There was no way a prescription would take 3 hours to fill unless there was a problem where they had to call INS. or MD to clarify something. We had phone in scripts and refills. People who waited. You don't know pissed off until you see a VP for a big corp. come and say they want their prescription filled right now. You could look in the bins where the scripts sit and tell how busy they are. Like I said in Manhattan it took no more than an hour and a half to fill a script. We put the scripts in the order they come in even if someone said they will be back after work and they drop it off at lunch. It is ready well before 5 pm everyone needs to catch the train home. I an just saying its pretty dumb to leave the script aside and wait till exactly 3pm. I have also been to other pharmacy's like CVS and the like. You tell them you'll be back in a few hours it's ready in less than 1.

And because that's the way the single pharmacy you worked at did it - in order they came in no matter when they were to be picked up - every pharmacy in the world must do it that way?

Because doing it that way makes no sense to me. If someone comes in and says they'll pick it up in three hours and someone else comes in hacking and sneezing and wants to wait, the one to be picked up in three hours would be filled first in your old pharmacy. Perhaps the Target, shocking, just doesn't do it that way and prioritizes differently. There are other views and ways of doing things than yours and the way you're used to.

Same as the 'everyone needs to catch the train home' thing. Not everyone working in the City lives outside of it.

 

[Chaoster]

I am not saying my way of doing it. The walmart I go to does it the same way. I am saying there is noway it takes 3 hours to fill a script. When you get a script you put it in the bin the order it comes in. It doesn't matter if it is droped off, phoned in (refill or by MD), or internet or auto refill. If you need to wait the pharmacist will finish the one he is working on and fill the one where the person is waiting. I am saying it doesn't make sense to wait till 3 to fill just because the person said they will be back at 3. How often do people say they will be back at a certain time and are early? Never said my was the right way or the only way. Just that it didn't make sense to wait till 3 to fill. Isn't it more logical to fill the script early. Like I said I was only 10 minutes early not 2 hours early. As I have said When I drop off at Walmart they ask wen I'll be back. I say a couple hours and I usually get an automated call the prescription is ready to be picked-up after only about 30 minutes.

 

[msmama]

Are you sure it wasn't filled?

At my Target pharmacy the pharmacist (the actual pharm, not a tech) checks each and every prescription before it's handed out (even if it was just filled a few minutes prior). If he or she is on the phone or in the middle of counting or something it can take a few minutes. I've even had to wait while they're in the bathroom once, lol.

I'll take the security that they're making sure I get the right thing over a few minutes of my time.

 

[mrsklamc]

You cannot tell by looking in the bins how busy they were if people dropped off and picked up the prescriptions while you were gone. You said something like people often come back earlier than they said? I worked in a pharmacy for three years in college and did not ever have that happen.

 

[Nicolepa]

I am not saying my way of doing it. The walmart I go to does it the same way. I am saying there is noway it takes 3 hours to fill a script. When you get a script you put it in the bin the order it comes in. It doesn't matter if it is droped off, phoned in (refill or by MD), or internet or auto refill. If you need to wait the pharmacist will finish the one he is working on and fill the one where the person is waiting. I am saying it doesn't make sense to wait till 3 to fill just because the person said they will be back at 3. How often do people say they will be back at a certain time and are early? Never said my was the right way or the only way. Just that it didn't make sense to wait till 3 to fill. Isn't it more logical to fill the script early. Like I said I was only 10 minutes early not 2 hours early. As I have said When I drop off at Walmart they ask wen I'll be back. I say a couple hours and I usually get an automated call the prescription is ready to be picked-up after only about 30 minutes.

Target pharmacies close from 1-2 every day for lunch. So it really was only 2 hours. Actually 1:50 minutes (assuming you really did arrive at 12 and not 12:15 or something else. So it wasn't really 3 hours.

So if you want your prescription faster, why don't you just wait? It would easily take you longer to go to the car, drive home, return, park and walk back than it did to wait 5 minutes for them to fill it.

Not something that would have even made my radar. And I certainly wouldn't discount them because of one instance. But if you'd rather wait in the long pickup lines at Walmart like you speak of, feel free.

 

[si-am]

I feel like all pharmacies have this problem these days. Not sure why. It used to be that you could wait for a prescription and have it ready in 15 minutes. Now it takes hours.

CVS is the worst, absolute worst with this. Most of them they'll tell me not to even bother waiting. Kroger seems the fastest around here, and I can grocery shop while I wait, so that makes it convenient.

 

[The Wise One]

I worked for Walgreens as a Certified Technician for 2 and a half years. If Target's system is anything like Walgreens then this is what could have happened:

At Walgreens if you drop off your prescription at say, 11AM and say you don't want to pick it up until 3pm then you would put the pick up time into the computer as 3pm. Once the script is entered and filed electronically with the insurance company (barring no complications with insurance) the prescription would then "sit" in the computer queue and would not print out until about 1:30-2PM because the computer would prioritize earlier pick up times or waiters over the 3PM pick up time.

You just never know. There could have been an issue with your insurance or they may have just gotten a truck or order of meds in, or lots of people came in right after you left. I know it's frustrating to wait but if you've worked in a pharmacy before then you should know how hard it can be to get scripts filled quickly as well, especially now that pharmacies file insurance claims for the patients!

 

[CatNipRules]

DH works at Target and the Target pharmacy is always hopping. No matter if there are people waiting at the counter to drop off prescriptions or not. They are always getting emails and faxes from different doctors. I've never seen someone just standing around.

That being said, I've dropped off prescriptions and had to wait. I even had to come back once because they were out of the medication and had to order it.

I would never go to WalMart for a prescription. They WalMart pharmacies here are staffed with rude people and they always have a huge line.Even for dropping off prescriptions. Now, I know you might think that I get front of the line service because DH works at Target. Nope. Not at all. In fact I've never gotten special treatment.

The thing is, DH said that his Target pharmacy does an average of $15 to $20 thousand a day.To me that's not someone standing around doing nothing. I for one wouldn't want to deal with some of the people that they have to on a daily basis. I've arrived 10 minutes early for picking up my prescription and have had to wait. That's after my doctor called it in the same morning. To me it's not a big deal.

To each his own I guess.....