December 2022 by E M.
A Blah Visit to Etown CVS: Employee #1 of this tale was cheerful, but inattentive: Today, after I waited in line awhile, I got up to the pharmacy pick-up counter and was first ignored for a moment while two employees figured out a lunch order. I was picking up an antihistamine that doesn't require counting or packing, just handing to me. After establishing that she wanted chicken nuggets, the employee at the register got my details and said one Rx was ready and one not yet. We'll call her Employee #1. She said to come back in 15. I wandered around the store for 30 minutes to give them even longer. Now back to the same counter after waiting in line again, the same employee told me the same thing: one Rx was ready and one not, but "they're working on it." She told me to stay there at the counter while she rang up the customer behind me, which is fine. However, afterward, the employee actually asked the pharmacy staff if my order was ready and.......the product was out of stock all along! Incredulous, I said I will pay for the one Rx that is in. I said I don't want the other one anymore because I've been in the store an hour now and don't want to hang around longer or come back for it. (I live in the sticks and am sick.) She didn't say anything at all in reply to that, so idk if it was really cancelled. THAT would have been a great moment to apologize for having me pointlessly wait around for something WITHOUT CHECKING that it was even there first, but this fact was never acknowledged. She noticed that I had some COVID rapid tests also listed with my orders, and I said, yes, I ordered those while I was waiting and got a notification that they are also ready. Are those here? She was unsure and said to maybe go check up front (logical: I got rapid tests at another CVS once and they were front counter pick-up). Though miffed at her lack of effs given for making me wait for nothing, I paid, thanked her, and headed up to the front counter. Employee #2 did it right: The staff up front had no info on my order for rapid tests. (Sounds like a CVS procedure fail.) I showed them my phone with the order details--which also said, "Ready for pick-up"--and a cashier did try to look, but the tests were nowhere. That employee wondered if they could give me a different brand, and I said rapid test orders go through insurance so I'm not sure if they can, but I'm good with whatever they can give me. It turned out I was out of luck. She apologized, and I thanked her and left. And that's how you do it! Wasn't her fault, and she tried to help and solve it. She even paused a conversation about what alcohol she needed to buy after work as soon as I got to the counter (lol), which is professional. I swear I'm like 10% less annoyed by today because she made very basic effort. Maybe I'm cranky because my throat is killing me. But I sure spent over an hour in Etown CVS for nothing. Customer service is an imperfect and dying art. Do it lazily and your location feels like a McDonalds of a pharmacy. Do it well and maybe we try this again.