CVS Pharmacy

This is in reference to the front store only, I have not used the pharmacy.
It remains sad to me that this is the only drug store option available to this community of JP. The workers are not compassionate to customers, not helpful, and even disrespectful. The shelves are disorganized and appear to have been raided. Employees chit chat among each other and when walking down aisles avoid eye contact with customers. When it was negative three outside and I walked inside with my pup to take a break from the chill, they commanded I leave my dog outside in the dangerous chill, providing the excuse that only service dogs were allowed because other patrons may have allergies (I think the employee was misinformed in her thinking that service dogs are hypoallergenic by definition… Not to mention that my dog in fact IS hypoallergenic, but that’s beside the point although does reflect the general lack of knowledge of the employees of their own store policies and the rationales behind them). This lack of caring for the neighborhood within which it resides is emblematic of the attitude and culture of this CVS. I for one will never step foot in this Cvs again, even if it means a considerably longer walk to another store, and I recommend you vote with your dollars elsewhere as well.

Its a typical CVS and it has self-​checkouts which is convenient but it is pretty messy and the staff are kinda non-​existent. The pharmacy is slow although they do have pharmacy students sometimes which I like (gotta train the next generation). Parking on the side is nice but the hours of this store are too limited.

I moved into JP about a month ago and have shopped at this CVS over a dozen times so at this point so I feel as though I can make a very reliable rating. There are many negative reviews on Unilocal about this location and most of them are completely valid, but lets remember the type of store we are shopping at here.
Is this CVS below average compared to other CVS’s? Yes. But I have never had a horrendous experience at this location either. The self check out is often the only checkout available which I really do not like, but I only shop here for the convenience. The lines can however get pretty long and it is true the staff will not open up the «human» isle to speed things along. The staff is also generally pretty unhelpful, but they have always helped me find what I needed and answered any questions I’ve had when I asked. I know that is not a glowing review of the staff considering that should be general human behavior (Helpfulness.), but I’ve come to the conclusion that this store and the staff just are what they are. The items on the shelves have been mostly stocked over the last month. The only items that seem to be generally un-​stocked are the «repair and maintenance» items, but it is such a small section that it really doesn’t make a difference. The items aren’t usually as cheap as the grocery store, but every week items go on sale and thats usually a pretty good value. Also, some of the older reviews discussed the atmosphere and cleanliness of the store and things must have changed since those early reviews. I wouldn’t want to sleep on their floor, but everything has always been completely clean and very bright/​moderately welcoming.
I have yet to go to the pharmacy so I can’t speak to how they are. Judging by others reviews I will definitely be calling to make sure my prescription is ready before I walk over. It sounds like everyone might be best off with that advice!
So all in all this place is definitely below average. If the customer service was even just a little better/​respectable then I’m sure this place would have an average of at least 3 stars. Like I said, I’ve never had any issues with the service and for the most part I have not needed them at all. I go here for convenience because unlike in Atlanta, I do not have a car here! I take what I can get and have realistic expectations for this type of store.
If you have a car, please take advantage of it and drive 1 minute (no exaggeration) down the road to the other CVS. I have been in it and it is unarguably much better!

The pharmacy section of this store has some major problems.
I can’t tell you how many times my husband or I have called in a prescription only to show up and have it not be there.
After a few times of them stating that «they have no record of it being called in,» I have started confirming that the prescription is ready via their Rapid Refill number before we venture out.
Today it said the prescription was ready. We went there 4 hours later, and guess what… it was not ready. Their excuse — they’re backed up due to the holiday.
If a prescription is not ready, that’s fine, but your software program should not be telling me that it is!
There was even a time when our Rx was sitting in the bin, and the employee just claimed it wasn’t ready and refused to look until we insisted that she check.
Bad software? Bad personnel? Probably a combination of both.
I wish there were another pharmacy that was convenient to us, because this one is a joke.

I don’t know what all the negative reviews are for. It’s a CVS. It has things that you need and don’t want to go very far to get.
The help is a little slow in coming sometimes, and the lines move a little slowly, but I’ve been there several times and haven’t ever been too insulted.
People need to lighten up. I’ve never seen people bitch and complain so much about convenience. If 5 minutes is too long for you to wait then maybe the problem is you and not the store. Relax a little!

Listen. I know that there are never people there to help. I know that it is pretty much a ghost town. But when I run out of trash bags or I need to satiate my lemonade craving, CVS always pulls through. Yes, it’s a block from my house so it’s convenient, but also, they always have the lemonade I want.
Yep. I’m easy to please.

they have eliminated all but one human teller line… which has all but eliminated the lines at the register… that’s a step in the right direction– but they still need to work on their attitudes. I really don’t need to feel like I am doing something wrong by shopping in your store.

this is the worst CVS I’ve ever been to. The people here are so rude and obnoxious, EVERY staff member has an attitude at this place. I went in this morning and realized they had a nice little remodel done, self service check out areas, better organized aisles etc. but what they really needed was staff remodeling! I went to print out some pics of the lady and I and when the screen prompted me for the manager password I asked the only employee on the floor, she came over, looked at me and said, «the photo tech is not in so if there’s a problem with these photos, I can’t help you» and all I asked for was the password! sheesh… the pics came out great, I mean, with a girl like mine, how can they not? she’s beautiful! So then I went to the new and fancy self checkout place where I proceeded to ring up my little purchase– no problem there. Then as I was walking out, I smiled at the employee on the floor and wished a great day, she didn’t even look up… the world we live in.

If I could give it less than one star I would. Always went due to more or less convenient location, but now I will go out of my way.
They recently «upgraded» this location, making wider aisles and prepared food, and the same layout as every other CVS (this is JP-we’re not about one size fits all). First of all, prepared CVS food freaks me out… plastic wrapped sandwiches and salads, no thanks. Looks more like a trashy Walgreens.
The other upgrade is a «do it yourself» check out. Granted the humans were amazingly slow, and swore left and right-​in Spanish (sorry, Spanish is not that obscure of a language at this point), but the lines were longer than ever, the self check outs are even slower than the humans were, there was one obviously overwhelmed young woman trying to help out everyone, and the machines were not working well. When something went wrong, she had to run to the other side of the store to let her get the override card! She was orchestrating the self-​check outs, and didn’t even have the ability to fix problems on her own!!!
I should be amazed, but it’s par for the course at this CVS. Then when the machine couldn’t scan my item, I just left stuff there and gave up. I told her it wasn’t scanning, she said it was, and since I was the one scanning I trusted my own sensory input. She said I would have to talk to the manager. I was only trying to buy 2 items!
Now, I have to say I am not a believer in replacing humans with machines, and this proves why. Humans are flexible (even if swearing in another language) and machines are not. I don’t believe in replacing the people at the bottom so people at the top can make more money. I know if I use a self-​check out it is not cheaper for me.
The pharmacy has been a comedy of errors over the years: lost prescriptions, calling me to say a prescription is ready-​getting there, «oh sorry, we never got it from your doctor»…um, YOU called ME, and today they quoted me the wrong price.
CVS, get it together. You’ve just lost another customer.

This CVS location is like your crazy but really hot significant other that all your friends tell you to dump, but you just can’t do it because they are so unbelievably hot. The only difference is that this CVS really kicks the «crazy» up a notch and the «hot» is nowhere to be seen.
Every review below is true. Staff is uncaring, unfriendly, downright rude and hostile towards customers. I went here for basic day to day stuff for short time I lived 5 minutes from it but I dreaded going there. I still don’t know why I went back, but now that I’ve moved away I am content knowing I will never return.

I think this place could definitely use improvements, but I’m not here to talk about that. Everyone else has it covered so I’ll just give you tips on how to brave this pharmacy (or most others in the Boston area).
1. Try to walk there or go during non-​peak hours or as I call it the «39-​bus rush.» People come in packs and want to wait in packs.
2. Know exactly what you want. Guesswork and impatience just wastes time.
3. Here is a clue about the priority list. Patients that come in person get top. Doctor calls are checked on the hour. Faxes/​electronic requests come in by the dozen so they are done in between everything else. Overall, pretty hectic.
4. Prior Authorizations are the insurance companies’ way to avoid paying for your medication for as long as possible — even so that you’ll be discouraged and give up. The pharmacy contacts your doctor, the doctor needs to notify the insurance co., and then there is this awkward waiting period. Your best bet is the harass the insurance co. after your doctor has done his/​her part .The pharmacy just twiddles their thumbs until it gets the approval and has no actual say in it.
5. Good hours to come to (usually) beat the crowd: 8−10am; 1−3pm; or 8 – 9:30pm. Busy periods of the month: Beginning/​end of a month, long weekends/​vacation periods.
6. You typically will get two insurance cards or a combination card. Unless your card has «Rx» scribbled somewhere on there, it is not valid for use.

The pharmacy here… well, someone i know says «All the inconveniences of Communist Russia, with none of the free meds.» Longest, slowest lines ever. The pharmacy staff are nice enough, but my GOD it is understaffed! Usually bilingual staff are available, though, which is a plus.
Leave yourself at least 30 minutes to pick up a prescription at any time of day. Or, preferably, get your prescription sent somewhere else.
The store part is just like every other CVS. Nothing to say there.

Y’know, I didn’t think it was really possible to deviate far enough from the standards of CVS-​dom to warrant more than a one-​star swing from the sweet normalcy of three stars. Then my doctor accidentally phoned in a prescription to the wrong CVS-​on-​Centre-​Street.
The image that I really want to drive home here is not the understocked shelves (though they ARE still inexplicably replete with unwanted Christmas decorations. In February.); it’s not the wisps of pot smoke wafting in from the back room every time someone pushes through the door; it’s not the clerk behind the prescription counter intently focused on a single bottle on the shelves who stands motionless for long stretches of time while he patiently reads and rereads the fine print whilst pointedly ignoring customers; nor is it even the fact that the building’s dark window coverings and total state of disrepair give it an aesthetic most often reserved for firebombed warehouses. No, what I really want to emphasize here is the utter contempt for humanity displayed by each and every aspect and/​or employee of this store. I can only assume there’s some sort of managerial hierarchy in this store who are ostensibly in charge of masking this deep contempt, but YOU try telling that to the hapless guy at the front of the store waiting to pay for his bottle of Tylenol with his 3-​year-​old daughter in tow while the lone clerk leans over the counter, deep in conversation with his equally oblivious friend, both with belts cinched loosely around what appears to be their knees (I know, I know: you kids, my lawn, etc.).
But I don’t want to deal only in generalizations. My own experience: too weary to call the correct CVS-​on-​Centre-​Street to sort out the mistake, I instead trekked through the snow, briefly pondered if a building in this poor of condition (with no obvious lights on inside) could be open, shrugged in resignation, stepped inside, doffed my hat, and thought to myself, ‘What luck! No line at the pharmacy, I’ll be out of here in ten minutes!’ What a sad naïf I was. For you see, shortly after I stepped up to the counter and handed my prescription to the gentleman behind the counter, the phone rang. Not minding a short interruption, I took a step back and pretended to read the back cover of a faith healing book (inexplicably located next to the dispensary of modern medicine) while the clerk carried on with his phone conversation. And carried on. And carried on a bit more, now sounding agitated. Then, he put the call on hold, and wandered into the other end of the pharmacy, presumably to investigate the slightly-​deluded ravings of whoever he’d been talking to. Several minutes passed. Slightly confused, I succeeded in making eye contact with two of the other four people working behind the counter in this completely deserted store, but it was all for naught – apparently, I had Already Been Helped, which rendered me invisible to the naked eye. Time continued to tick slowly past, as the snow on my boots melted and formed a sad little puddle beneath me, and a glassy-​eyed clerk re-​arranged the fish-​oil bottles on display next to me.
The resolution to this, you ask? I’ll let you know as soon as I know myself – for you see, I’ve typed this screed on my phone, while standing here waiting for my prescription. That’s right. On this tiny keyboard, with my huge goddamned sausage fingers, backspacing twelve times a minute to swap a g for an h, and pausing periodically to wonder if ‘naïf’ really has an f in it. There’s no one else in line. It’s just me, the four people working behind the counter, and some serious passive-​aggression.
In summary: the OTHER CVS on Centre Street is almost within sight of this one. Seriously, you can walk there in four minutes, or drive there in 45 seconds. If I wasn’t under the influence of weapons-​grade narcotic pain medication already, I’m pretty sure I would have struck out for it twenty-​five minutes ago.

I’m not surprised to see the below reviews. I agree. This is one of the *worst* CVS stores I’ve visited. I will not go back, I will drive out of my way to avoid this one. The staff is rude bordeirng on hostile. The management needs to teach the staff basic communication and interpersonal skills. Plus the store is kind of small and cramped.

Oh my god. I hate this place with a passion. Everything about it is miserable and sad. Seriously, all these reviews are not kidding.
The only upside is, if you bring your dog in, they won’t say anything.

Tired of great customer service with knowledgable store clerks? Wish you could wait 15minutes to pay for a pack of gum due to employees discussing how stupid their 4 year old is? Want to be checked out by an obese creature baby that uses grunts in place of hellos and thank yous? Wish you could get yelled at by a crackhead who loiters outside the door? Well this is your place then!
I hate this place.
And one of the clerks needs to wear a bra. I can see her areolas through the blue shirts they provide.

Well, I never expect much from a chain store, so I guess I’m not terribly disappointed, but this store is incredibly unfriendly, disorganized and has a bad selection.
As far as their pharmacy goes, I can’t complain, however — I usually have friendly and fast service here, and feel well informed.

Eh, pretty standard pharmacy. I didn’t realize you needed a special member card to get the discounts that were printed everywhere when I went. The worker at the cash register signed me up in about 2 minutes and I saved 10 bucks. Yay!
I was ticked that they didn’t sell underwear or beer, two things that I needed. Good sale prices though, and lots of cheap latino/​mexican spices, sauces, and canned goods.

This place makes my eye twitch. I come because it’s a 5 minute walk from my house but I swear I lose 5 years off my life every time I walk in the door. There’s something about this place that makes everyone move in slow motion. The place also looks dingy. Like it hasn’t had a good scrub down in ages. I guess it could be the lighting but either way it BLOWS. Buys a vaccum that works and dust a little but. I promise it won’t kill you.
Paying for your items is a task of its own. Most of the employees would rather chit chat and ignore the line of customers stretching halfway through the store (see Quinn’s review about their ignore skills) and the other move at a snails pace. Literally: *scan**pause pause pause**scan**pause pause pause*… Cut to me falling asleep on the counter.
I’ve only used the pharmacy once and that was a big mistake.
I was the only person in the pharmacy area when I dropped of my prescription. I asked how long it was going to be and when they pharmacist told me an hour b/​c they were a little backed up. I almost laughed in his face. Do you know how painful broken ribs are!!! How hard is it to put 10 pills in a bottle and set me free? After sitting and waiting I realized it wasn’t an hour wait b/​c they were backed up, they’re just idiots.

When I worked with children who had behavioral problems, I was told to practice my «ignore skills.» The people who work at this CVS should work with behaviorally problematic children, because they already have their ignore skills honed to perfection!