I am putting this thread up as a special shout-out to a few exceptional people at the Walgreen's in Gonzales on the corner of LA 30 and 44.
The pharmacy staff: Emile Clay and Jari Young
and store manager: Marilyn Monroe (no, not the blond desirable one)
Basically the pharmacy staff maliciously conspired to keep me from receiving my anti-seizure medication after I corrected them about my prescription being available and the manager aided and abetted their actions.
Monday 21 Feb 2011
My doctor writes me a prescription for Keppra XR (anti-seizure medication) at 11am and I goto Walgreens immediatly following the appointment. After waiting in line for 15 minutes I am able to drop off the written prescription and told by the pharmacy staff it will be ready in a few hours.
I come back several hours later and again wait for 15 minutes in line to be told my medication was being shipped to the store and would be available Tuesday 22 Feb 2011 after lunch time.
Wednesday 23 Feb 2011
I wait in line for 15 minutes before pharmacy tech Jari Young tells me that my medication is not available at all through Walgreens! At this point I inform her that the medication was shipped in and I received a call verifying this. She investigates and discovers the medicine has arrived but it has not been processed. She tells me I must wait for the pharmacist (Emile Clay) to bottle it.
I have been in the store for over 30 minutes now and my spine is hurting from the spinal tap I had in the ER just a week ago, so I drag a chair up in view of the pharmacy window and sit down. I was not blocking any path ways nor interfering with business (the security camera will show this to be true). The pharmacy staff demanded I move the chair, and I agreed to replace the chair after getting my medication.
The pharmacy staff does not care about patient satisfaction, they just want to work their hours with minimum effort and go home. My sitting in that chair was an attempt to keep from being shuffled to the bottom of the stack by said staff. Had I complied with their demands the pharmacist would not have touched my meds for another day because of the line of customers who have been forced to wait like me.
After sitting in front of that window for 10 minutes or more my medication appeared on the counter. I stepped up to pay for it and the staff began their retribution.
Jari Young told me I was not allowed to pay for the medication because of an insurance issue. This insurance issue was resolved Monday evening when I had originally tried to pickup the medication (the staff was able to link my name to my father's name - insurance is through his employer). While trying to establish my insurance information again, another pharmacy staff member swoops in and takes away the medication with no explanation. I once again took my seat in front of the window because I did not want to be shuffled to the bottom again.
While waiting for the pharmacy staff to "resolve my insurance issues" the store manager is called in to have me move the chair from view of the pharmacy counter. I politely explain my situation to the manager starting with my Monday experiences.
The managers name is Marilyn Monroe (at least her name tag claimed so) and she offered to help me get the medication if I replaced the chair. I put the chair back where I find it and Marilyn Monroe goes insides the pharmacy. After five minutes she emerges and only says "your prescription will be filled" and I asked how long that might take. She replied "as long as it takes" and walked away. This woman makes the DMV look like Santa Claus.
At this point I had to leave because I felt very weak and prone to have a seizure (I had been waiting on my medication for quite longer than I expected). Once home I contact my mother who contacts her local Walgreens (Pineville, LA). The Pineville pharmacist calls the store with which I have had so much trouble and discovers there is absolutely no reason why I can't have the medication, the Gonzales staff were simply stalling because I was "rude".
An hour after leaving so frustrated, I returned to the Walgreens with my "insider" information and demanded my medication. Having run out of ways to delay giving me my medication, the staff relented. I paid my copay (insurance didn't seem to be such a problem all of a sudden) and left hopefully to never return.
I'd like to think that this was all a big misunderstanding, but everything about that Walgreens is FUBAR. Im sure it's because of people like Jari Young and Marilyn Monroe who feel like they are not paid enough to care about their customers. (what are they paid for anyways)
Because my insurance wont pay for prescriptions filled outside of Walgreens, I have few choices. Could someone tell me if the Walgreens on Airline in Gonzales is any better than the one on Burnside and LA 30?
The pharmacy staff: Emile Clay and Jari Young
and store manager: Marilyn Monroe (no, not the blond desirable one)
Basically the pharmacy staff maliciously conspired to keep me from receiving my anti-seizure medication after I corrected them about my prescription being available and the manager aided and abetted their actions.
Monday 21 Feb 2011
My doctor writes me a prescription for Keppra XR (anti-seizure medication) at 11am and I goto Walgreens immediatly following the appointment. After waiting in line for 15 minutes I am able to drop off the written prescription and told by the pharmacy staff it will be ready in a few hours.
I come back several hours later and again wait for 15 minutes in line to be told my medication was being shipped to the store and would be available Tuesday 22 Feb 2011 after lunch time.
Wednesday 23 Feb 2011
I wait in line for 15 minutes before pharmacy tech Jari Young tells me that my medication is not available at all through Walgreens! At this point I inform her that the medication was shipped in and I received a call verifying this. She investigates and discovers the medicine has arrived but it has not been processed. She tells me I must wait for the pharmacist (Emile Clay) to bottle it.
I have been in the store for over 30 minutes now and my spine is hurting from the spinal tap I had in the ER just a week ago, so I drag a chair up in view of the pharmacy window and sit down. I was not blocking any path ways nor interfering with business (the security camera will show this to be true). The pharmacy staff demanded I move the chair, and I agreed to replace the chair after getting my medication.
The pharmacy staff does not care about patient satisfaction, they just want to work their hours with minimum effort and go home. My sitting in that chair was an attempt to keep from being shuffled to the bottom of the stack by said staff. Had I complied with their demands the pharmacist would not have touched my meds for another day because of the line of customers who have been forced to wait like me.
After sitting in front of that window for 10 minutes or more my medication appeared on the counter. I stepped up to pay for it and the staff began their retribution.
Jari Young told me I was not allowed to pay for the medication because of an insurance issue. This insurance issue was resolved Monday evening when I had originally tried to pickup the medication (the staff was able to link my name to my father's name - insurance is through his employer). While trying to establish my insurance information again, another pharmacy staff member swoops in and takes away the medication with no explanation. I once again took my seat in front of the window because I did not want to be shuffled to the bottom again.
While waiting for the pharmacy staff to "resolve my insurance issues" the store manager is called in to have me move the chair from view of the pharmacy counter. I politely explain my situation to the manager starting with my Monday experiences.
The managers name is Marilyn Monroe (at least her name tag claimed so) and she offered to help me get the medication if I replaced the chair. I put the chair back where I find it and Marilyn Monroe goes insides the pharmacy. After five minutes she emerges and only says "your prescription will be filled" and I asked how long that might take. She replied "as long as it takes" and walked away. This woman makes the DMV look like Santa Claus.
At this point I had to leave because I felt very weak and prone to have a seizure (I had been waiting on my medication for quite longer than I expected). Once home I contact my mother who contacts her local Walgreens (Pineville, LA). The Pineville pharmacist calls the store with which I have had so much trouble and discovers there is absolutely no reason why I can't have the medication, the Gonzales staff were simply stalling because I was "rude".
An hour after leaving so frustrated, I returned to the Walgreens with my "insider" information and demanded my medication. Having run out of ways to delay giving me my medication, the staff relented. I paid my copay (insurance didn't seem to be such a problem all of a sudden) and left hopefully to never return.
I'd like to think that this was all a big misunderstanding, but everything about that Walgreens is FUBAR. Im sure it's because of people like Jari Young and Marilyn Monroe who feel like they are not paid enough to care about their customers. (what are they paid for anyways)
Because my insurance wont pay for prescriptions filled outside of Walgreens, I have few choices. Could someone tell me if the Walgreens on Airline in Gonzales is any better than the one on Burnside and LA 30?
