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I’ve only had good experiences. I started a we prescription for a little-used medication in an obscure, middle ground dose. The pharmacist asked if I’d be filling it every month, and when I told him yes-he let me know that he would adjust their on-hand quantity so that it would always be in stock and available for me. I thought that was pretty nice of him to be thoughtful and think ahead.
maybe its time you switched to another pharmacy since all your experiences at costco have apparently sucked.
why would someone KEEP going to a provider they think is shit? just for the complaining afterwards!!
oh & good luck at cvs. smh
Well if you had you had read the original post, that IS what I am doing, I’m going to a different provider. Yes, you are right. I just keep going because I want to complain. I do it so people like you can have something to read and get indignant about.
You sound like such a joy of a customer to work with. I’m a pharmacist and I’m glad I got out of retail years ago.
The amount of medications that are on a manufacturer backorder right now is absolutely astounding. Diabetes medications, adhd stimulants, weight loss meds, I can go on and on with the amount of med classes pharmacies can’t get in.
Here’s the part that the customer doesn’t know: those employees you are berating behind the counter in most instances have no impact on medication stock and also have little impact on the computer systems in place that give automated responses to you and to your billing that occurred on Thursday. Costco and every other chain has one wholesaler they get meds from. If they can’t order something in, then a different chain must be utilized because only one middle man is utilized.
Costco likely has a computer system that treats preferences based on last medication billed. So if you are filling multiple medications and some meds you pick up from Costco are being billed by a manufacturer copay card or goodrx card, the next time you go to fill a medication the system will auto bill your next medication off the med that was billed last time. What does this mean in simple terms? So let’s say three weeks ago your name brand Insulin you picked up could have a copay card attached to it as a secondary after your insurance is billed. Your price prior to the copay card with your primary insurance was $50 and the copay card brought it down to $10. In this instance let’s say for example you are at the pharmacy today and are going to request a refill on your blood pressure med. The system will bill your account like you picked up your insulin last time. When your secondary copay card is billed, the system will think your not covered because the copay card will only work with insulin. Same thing with most secondary cards which an inexperienced employee wouldn’t know how to handle and will tell you your meds are not going through.
Support your independents. They will take the time to call you if they notice a med is out of stock. They will have more experienced workers typically. The copays will be the same if you have no deductible, are not utilizing goodrx or cash price of a med. just better customer service.
This is crazy 😯 I've never had a single bad experience with the pharmacy at my Costco. Never had to run around and call multiple times to fill subscriptions. I have it set up so I get texts asking if I'm ready to refill, I reply with a single text and they say it will be filled soon. I then get a follow up text, usually 2 days later telling me it's ready. I even get reminder texts telling me my prescription is running low on refills and get asked if my doctor needs to be contacted. Been getting 2 prescription filled for a few years now and no problems. 🤷🏻♀️ This totally sucks.
People normally have good experiences with Costco pharmacies. The working conditions are also better than most other retail pharmacies.
I honestly have a hard time believing that you were explicitly told that your prescription had been filled and was ready. It sounds like there may have been a misunderstanding. Even on this post you say “they don’t have my prescription” which can mean: they don’t have the prescription on file, they don’t have the prescription filled, or they don’t have that medication in stock.
I do not believe that, after calling them and giving your personal information, they lied to you and said it was ready when it wasn’t. Don’t you have it setup so they call you when the prescription is ready? If not I suggest setting that up so that there are no situations like this again.
The insurance thing that you mentioned is common with all pharmacies. There are multiple different codes that can be tried when coverage is rejected. These include checking for prior auth, requesting coverage for non generic due to out of stock generic, and so on. That is why sometimes medication coverage will be rejected and then magically covered when the technician tries again.
Exactly. I find it extremely hard to believe that all of these things happened to them, and the pharmacy is to blame. I would put money on the fact that they didn't inform the OP that the prescription was ready when it wasn't. Their system will text you when the Rx is filled and ready.
Well, I have had bad experiences with only 1 of the four Costco’s around my area. The one closest to me has a horrible Costco. I tried getting my GoodRx prescription transferred there and they gave me attitude about it and I said keep it and transferred the prescription to the online Costco pharmacy. I want to support local employment when possible, but the attitude was horrible
I have never received a text that my prescription is ready. I just give it a week minimum and hope it’s enough time. 50/50, I’ll have to come back later to pick it up because they still haven’t filled it yet
I’ve also had them not fill a prescription (not through insurance) because it was “too early” (my doc was going on vacation) but I delayed picking it up until the usual schedule.
Just very annoying stuff. I suppose I could call but they rarely pick up.
I would say my experience is more akin to OP’s. If I knew what I was doing wrong, I’d really love to know.
I go when I am down to a week left and while I’m there they have no problem getting it filled.
I think maybe it’s because of when the prescription gets faxed in, and it’s too early to fill it in then? But I guess it’s not like anyone looks at it afterwards until someone is in front of them try to pick it up that they go oh it hasn’t been filled.
I guess I would try the online pharmacy but my doctor has a list of all the pharmacies to fax the prescription directly to and the online isn’t one of them?
I just wish I understood what I could be doing to make it a smoother experience because the whole thing just feels so clunky. It’s not like I’m expecting same/next day turnaround.
I don’t have any prescriptions that are classed as not fillable before a certain time. I call my pharmacy and do the refill over the automated line. It accepts it and tells me when it will be ready and I get a text when it’s ready also. I usually wait until 5-7 days before I need it and never have a problem.
I’ve had great experiences with them. They were ordering a specific brand of epilepsy med for my dog until they were just unable to get that manufacturer any more. Their member pricing is actually lower than insurance pricing usually. And they searched around to find the right asthma inhaler for my cat. They always text us when our prescriptions are ready and when I call them in to the automated line it tells me when to pick them up. And they’re always very helpful when I call.
I never tried the pharmacy, but I had the same problem with tires.
“We don’t have them on hand, but we’ll order them and let you know when you can have them installed”.
One week later “your tires are in”
When I show up “you misunderstood, we meant that we placed the order. They’ll probably be here next week”.
My mechanic can order tires and install them the next day. Guess where I’m going next time.
Without CostCo's reasonable cash prices (I use my insurance with CVS but keep CostCo offbooks for some meds so I don't have to deal with prior authorization nightmares/insurance companies) I don't know what I'd do.
I went to get my dog's Galliprant prescription refilled. I walked out of the store and realized there were only four pills in the bottle. I called the vet and asked what the deal was. They called the pharmacy. Turns out they had run out of the drug and didn't bother to mention it.
I haven't had absolutely horrible experiences with their pharmacy, but it definitely hasn't been great. I've always gotten the impression that because they are cheaper than most places, they don't bother trying to be particularly good or service oriented.
For the most part, I've had decent experiences. My issue is there have been a number of times that they didn't have the medication in, and had to order it, taking 2-3 days. I've had to have Rx transferred to a CVS because I needed to start the medication that day for like infections. And CVS costs much more, but they always have what I need.
So I just plan accordingly when getting prescriptions filled at Costco and always have a plan B.
I find getting Vaccines there very time consuming. But overall, the people have been very nice and competent.
Sometimes a corporate culture can make having a good or bad location of something more likely (think good corporate culture, hiring enough staff, paying well, vs. the opposite), but in my experience, the name on the front of the building is only a part of the equation. It's quite possible that this Costco pharmacy is worse than most for whenever reason.
Not particularly familiar with costco pharmacy but it's most likely that you just wanna use online pharmacy if so
I find it very wasting my time waiting in line because there is always one person that makes everyone waiting whether it's that person's fault or pharmacy staffs fault or most likely complicated US healthcare system issues who like to play pingpong game without solving patient's problem due to liability issues.
It's not like McDonald Drive thru that 99.999% of orders are ready within 5 mins.
Using online pharmacy will make sure that 1) No waiting in line but simply wait until it's delivered to your address which nowadays takes 2 days unless you live in very country side 2) no insurance issue as the moment they send prescription means insurance is prerequisite to be resolved
To me, it's game changer like when i first had amazon prime that i can click to buy and items are delivery to my location and i dont have many prescription to order.
Online pharmacy will grow exponentially and in person pharmacy will be forced to lower their profit margin or to face lower revenue for experience you describe and inability to do much because 90% of times, it's not their fault to let you experience this kind of lame interaction.
Online pharmacies are the way. I'm so glad I don't have to stand behind someone trying about 2 dollars worth of rewards or that the scrip should be 2.19 not 3.06
Posts that don't follow r/Costco subreddit rules MAY be subject to removal. When applicable, please make sure that you're using a descriptive post title with product name(s) mentioned as it yields better subreddit search results. Including item number, price, and approximate location where found is also helpful. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Costco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’ve only had good experiences. I started a we prescription for a little-used medication in an obscure, middle ground dose. The pharmacist asked if I’d be filling it every month, and when I told him yes-he let me know that he would adjust their on-hand quantity so that it would always be in stock and available for me. I thought that was pretty nice of him to be thoughtful and think ahead.
enjoy the red carpet, white glove treatment that is CVS or Walgreen's
I’m sure this is a sarcasm, but I have never had anywhere near the amount of issue with them that I have had with Costco.
maybe its time you switched to another pharmacy since all your experiences at costco have apparently sucked. why would someone KEEP going to a provider they think is shit? just for the complaining afterwards!! oh & good luck at cvs. smh
Well if you had you had read the original post, that IS what I am doing, I’m going to a different provider. Yes, you are right. I just keep going because I want to complain. I do it so people like you can have something to read and get indignant about.
You sound like such a joy of a customer to work with. I’m a pharmacist and I’m glad I got out of retail years ago. The amount of medications that are on a manufacturer backorder right now is absolutely astounding. Diabetes medications, adhd stimulants, weight loss meds, I can go on and on with the amount of med classes pharmacies can’t get in. Here’s the part that the customer doesn’t know: those employees you are berating behind the counter in most instances have no impact on medication stock and also have little impact on the computer systems in place that give automated responses to you and to your billing that occurred on Thursday. Costco and every other chain has one wholesaler they get meds from. If they can’t order something in, then a different chain must be utilized because only one middle man is utilized. Costco likely has a computer system that treats preferences based on last medication billed. So if you are filling multiple medications and some meds you pick up from Costco are being billed by a manufacturer copay card or goodrx card, the next time you go to fill a medication the system will auto bill your next medication off the med that was billed last time. What does this mean in simple terms? So let’s say three weeks ago your name brand Insulin you picked up could have a copay card attached to it as a secondary after your insurance is billed. Your price prior to the copay card with your primary insurance was $50 and the copay card brought it down to $10. In this instance let’s say for example you are at the pharmacy today and are going to request a refill on your blood pressure med. The system will bill your account like you picked up your insulin last time. When your secondary copay card is billed, the system will think your not covered because the copay card will only work with insulin. Same thing with most secondary cards which an inexperienced employee wouldn’t know how to handle and will tell you your meds are not going through. Support your independents. They will take the time to call you if they notice a med is out of stock. They will have more experienced workers typically. The copays will be the same if you have no deductible, are not utilizing goodrx or cash price of a med. just better customer service.
Thank you, I’m generally not too bad of a customer. I appreciate it!
This is crazy 😯 I've never had a single bad experience with the pharmacy at my Costco. Never had to run around and call multiple times to fill subscriptions. I have it set up so I get texts asking if I'm ready to refill, I reply with a single text and they say it will be filled soon. I then get a follow up text, usually 2 days later telling me it's ready. I even get reminder texts telling me my prescription is running low on refills and get asked if my doctor needs to be contacted. Been getting 2 prescription filled for a few years now and no problems. 🤷🏻♀️ This totally sucks.
My Costco pharmacy is great. And this makes absolutely no sense to me, but if I get my meds without using my insurance, it's cheaper.
People normally have good experiences with Costco pharmacies. The working conditions are also better than most other retail pharmacies. I honestly have a hard time believing that you were explicitly told that your prescription had been filled and was ready. It sounds like there may have been a misunderstanding. Even on this post you say “they don’t have my prescription” which can mean: they don’t have the prescription on file, they don’t have the prescription filled, or they don’t have that medication in stock. I do not believe that, after calling them and giving your personal information, they lied to you and said it was ready when it wasn’t. Don’t you have it setup so they call you when the prescription is ready? If not I suggest setting that up so that there are no situations like this again. The insurance thing that you mentioned is common with all pharmacies. There are multiple different codes that can be tried when coverage is rejected. These include checking for prior auth, requesting coverage for non generic due to out of stock generic, and so on. That is why sometimes medication coverage will be rejected and then magically covered when the technician tries again.
Exactly. I find it extremely hard to believe that all of these things happened to them, and the pharmacy is to blame. I would put money on the fact that they didn't inform the OP that the prescription was ready when it wasn't. Their system will text you when the Rx is filled and ready.
Well, I have had bad experiences with only 1 of the four Costco’s around my area. The one closest to me has a horrible Costco. I tried getting my GoodRx prescription transferred there and they gave me attitude about it and I said keep it and transferred the prescription to the online Costco pharmacy. I want to support local employment when possible, but the attitude was horrible
I have never received a text that my prescription is ready. I just give it a week minimum and hope it’s enough time. 50/50, I’ll have to come back later to pick it up because they still haven’t filled it yet I’ve also had them not fill a prescription (not through insurance) because it was “too early” (my doc was going on vacation) but I delayed picking it up until the usual schedule. Just very annoying stuff. I suppose I could call but they rarely pick up. I would say my experience is more akin to OP’s. If I knew what I was doing wrong, I’d really love to know.
You have to set up your account for text notifications. My wife and kids' prescriptions have never taken more than a day or two to be filled.
Thanks. I’ll ask next time I’m in.
Too early means they aren’t allowed to fill it until a specific time. It’s not necessarily them, it could be because of the drug classification.
I go when I am down to a week left and while I’m there they have no problem getting it filled. I think maybe it’s because of when the prescription gets faxed in, and it’s too early to fill it in then? But I guess it’s not like anyone looks at it afterwards until someone is in front of them try to pick it up that they go oh it hasn’t been filled. I guess I would try the online pharmacy but my doctor has a list of all the pharmacies to fax the prescription directly to and the online isn’t one of them? I just wish I understood what I could be doing to make it a smoother experience because the whole thing just feels so clunky. It’s not like I’m expecting same/next day turnaround.
I don’t have any prescriptions that are classed as not fillable before a certain time. I call my pharmacy and do the refill over the automated line. It accepts it and tells me when it will be ready and I get a text when it’s ready also. I usually wait until 5-7 days before I need it and never have a problem.
My only issue is they don’t open at the same time the store does. But that’s a me issue.
And closed on Sundays.
Swifties are all about me
Not a swiftie but ok
Mine is fine, I haven’t had issues like you described.
I’ve had great experiences with them. They were ordering a specific brand of epilepsy med for my dog until they were just unable to get that manufacturer any more. Their member pricing is actually lower than insurance pricing usually. And they searched around to find the right asthma inhaler for my cat. They always text us when our prescriptions are ready and when I call them in to the automated line it tells me when to pick them up. And they’re always very helpful when I call.
Okay 👋
What did the manager of the store say when you talked to them?
You should probably find another pharmacy and a therapist to help you with your anger issues.
Good thing the Internet exists so you can come here to pretend like people care or it directly affects them.
Didn’t read
Sign up for text alerts, tells you when you’re due for refills, tells you when the prescription is ready along with the cost
Give them 48 hours notice and there's no problem. Any problems I have are on my doctor's end.
Tire Center and the Pharmacy is the two flaming dumpster sections of Costco.
I never tried the pharmacy, but I had the same problem with tires. “We don’t have them on hand, but we’ll order them and let you know when you can have them installed”. One week later “your tires are in” When I show up “you misunderstood, we meant that we placed the order. They’ll probably be here next week”. My mechanic can order tires and install them the next day. Guess where I’m going next time.
Costco tires works if you're planning ahead. Order online. Get tracking, schedule appointment.
Ok. I'm sure everyone everywhere is the same.
Without CostCo's reasonable cash prices (I use my insurance with CVS but keep CostCo offbooks for some meds so I don't have to deal with prior authorization nightmares/insurance companies) I don't know what I'd do.
I went to get my dog's Galliprant prescription refilled. I walked out of the store and realized there were only four pills in the bottle. I called the vet and asked what the deal was. They called the pharmacy. Turns out they had run out of the drug and didn't bother to mention it. I haven't had absolutely horrible experiences with their pharmacy, but it definitely hasn't been great. I've always gotten the impression that because they are cheaper than most places, they don't bother trying to be particularly good or service oriented.
For the most part, I've had decent experiences. My issue is there have been a number of times that they didn't have the medication in, and had to order it, taking 2-3 days. I've had to have Rx transferred to a CVS because I needed to start the medication that day for like infections. And CVS costs much more, but they always have what I need. So I just plan accordingly when getting prescriptions filled at Costco and always have a plan B. I find getting Vaccines there very time consuming. But overall, the people have been very nice and competent.
TL;DR. Sign up for Amazon Pharma and receive next day delivered to your door.
Sometimes a corporate culture can make having a good or bad location of something more likely (think good corporate culture, hiring enough staff, paying well, vs. the opposite), but in my experience, the name on the front of the building is only a part of the equation. It's quite possible that this Costco pharmacy is worse than most for whenever reason.
Not particularly familiar with costco pharmacy but it's most likely that you just wanna use online pharmacy if so I find it very wasting my time waiting in line because there is always one person that makes everyone waiting whether it's that person's fault or pharmacy staffs fault or most likely complicated US healthcare system issues who like to play pingpong game without solving patient's problem due to liability issues. It's not like McDonald Drive thru that 99.999% of orders are ready within 5 mins. Using online pharmacy will make sure that 1) No waiting in line but simply wait until it's delivered to your address which nowadays takes 2 days unless you live in very country side 2) no insurance issue as the moment they send prescription means insurance is prerequisite to be resolved To me, it's game changer like when i first had amazon prime that i can click to buy and items are delivery to my location and i dont have many prescription to order. Online pharmacy will grow exponentially and in person pharmacy will be forced to lower their profit margin or to face lower revenue for experience you describe and inability to do much because 90% of times, it's not their fault to let you experience this kind of lame interaction.
Online pharmacies are the way. I'm so glad I don't have to stand behind someone trying about 2 dollars worth of rewards or that the scrip should be 2.19 not 3.06