Duane Reade

They barely speak English. I had enough points to get $ 5 off. The cashier goes put in your zip code to tell me it’s wrong, did it again. She goes now you’re blocked. I say well I want my $ 20 back for my purchases. Manager comes over what’s your zip code so I can refund you. Me its not working well we need your name and zip code. Me why? You didn’t try that to use my reward points. Give my’$ 20. Him zip code & name. Me use your zip &
Name and give me my $$$$. Got it and said wait for my complaint

Incompetent and rude managers. staff is running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. cross JFK Blvd and go to Rite-​Aid instead.

The good:
1. Location
The bad:
1. Overpriced– in some cases 2x as much as a supermarket. But you pay for convenience so you really shouldn’t be complaining about this. The NYC Duane Reades are far worse, think of it that way.
2. The cashiers are beyond reproach. Curt, uninterested, and sometimes nasty. They don’t say hello, they say, «duane reade card». They don’t say goodbye. They’re slow and spend more time talking to each other than anyone else. They will literally hold a conversation in front of you with a fellow employee and won’t ring you up until they’re done. Their communication with you is in between them talking to their co-​workers. It’s quite a contrast from the NYC stores (which I’ve been to many). The employees are so nice and helpful (at ALL of them). Looks like some cross-​training is in order.

If it were not for Kaushal, one of the pharmacists at this location, I would give this place one to two stars. Kaushal himself is deserving of 5 stars. He is one of, if not the most, friendly compassionate, caring, and exceptional pharmacists I have ever met. He truly cares –I’ve seen him go out of his way to help people more than once.
I can’t say the same for some of the other employees at this location. Fortunately, they have someone like Kaushal making it right.

I have used their Western Union services just now and was so displeased on how the way things turned out.
When I was doing the transaction using my debit card, they said that they have to void the transaction bec it didn’t go through. I saw in the credit card machine that my balance was already paid and was zeroed after I have swiped my card. Obviously it went thru but they cancelled it? for whatever reason I don’t know. They have given me a voided receipt to show it was cancelled.
They told me to do it again the second time. I told them that my debit card might be charged twice. They said no. So I checked my balance online before doing and true to my intuition, it was debited already.
They advised me that it was my bank who charged me and they have voided it and to wait till my bank clears it after 24 hours and just come back the next day to send the money.
I was like, are u kidding me? I am sending the money thru Western Union now because my mom needs it ASAP.
I was asking them that I am now stucked with the first pending transaction and was left with no more money since I needed to do it again the second time.
Bec of this mess, I asked one of the cashier supervisors to write the full name of the store manager and she keeps on giving me the first name of the manager which was written already in the voided receipt they have given me. I told her to write the Manager’s surname and instead she told me to go to the store board where the Manager’s name is written.
I asked her if she can write it, but maybe she doesn’t understand what write means but arrogantly insisted I go to the board to the board and see for myself.
Next time please do the ff things:
1. Debit cards automatically deducts the account of your customers. If in case something like this happens, you should have a CC hotline number where you call the bank and request for an automatic release of the pending transaction and don’t let your customers do the chasing and follow-​ups, bec this was your FAULT.
2. If you guys made a mess, try to be nicer to the aggrieved customer. When I asked for the surname of the Manager, it will only take a few seconds to write it. But she insisted I go to the board rather. She never made an effort. But the inconvenience you have given me will take a few days.
Thank you Duane Reade for your great customer service!
As an added tip, before hiring employees, please ensure that they know how to write and understand. It will be a great help to your company.

EXPENSIVE! OVERPRICED! And they «tell you» to put your email into their system when you pay… As if it’s a requirement for the purchase! I’ve watched people pay cash and hand over their email. What a creepy company.

This is very conveniently located in Path Plaza and hence somewhere I stop by often enough. Even so, I hadnt tried the pharmacy downstairs till last week. It wasnt a pleasant experience! The pharmacist didnt seem interested in helping me out and answered my questions with an annoyed expression. A dose of people-​skills will do you a world of good, Mr Pharmacist! Other than this experience, I usually dont have a problem finding stuff that I need here even though it is a little overpriced compared to other stores.

Don’t buy any dairy products from them. I have had issues with spoiled dairy products from this store. The half & half I I purchased was curdles at the time I opened the package.
They either have a problem with their trucks or they do not keep their in-​store coolers set low enough.
I refuse to buy their dairy anymore.

Terrible. Just terrible. The kind of place that makes you wonder if the manager is actually trying to run the place out of business. People at the registers are aggressively rude and unpleasant, although there’s occasionally a woman at the downstairs counter who will actually look you in the eye and say something other than your total.
The pharmacy, however, is a disaster. I’ve gone there three times. Two of those three times, I had to wait on line for at least ten minutes. And all three times, they screwed up my prescription. The first time, the totally inattentive lady at the counter entered the wrong drug and overcharged me for it. The second time, she only gave me half the amount of pills I was prescribed, so I had to go back and spend another 10 minutes arguing with the pharmacist before she realized her mistake. The third time, I brought in a prescription for a new medication. When I went in to pick it up the next day, she said there was no record in the system for me and said they must have lost it. After talking to the pharmacist for 5 minutes, she came back and asked what the medication was and what it was for, so I then had to say some very private and sensitive health details within earshot of the long line of people behind me. After some more searching, she found it right where it was supposed to be.
These people are totally unprofessional and do not take your health or your privacy seriously. I now go out of my way to Hook Pharmacy downtown, which has exceptional customer service and always gets the prescription correct.

Every time I have bought a sale time here, the «Sale» is not reflected at check out. After they argue that it is a different item when it’s not, the cashier has to go to the item aisle and find the little sale sign in front of the item, bring it to the register and enter it manually. Every time. Make sure you pay close attention as they ring you up because they will screw you on sale items. It’s also really annoying that they promote themselves as 24-​hour but close at 10 pm (7pm on Sunday)
FYI — Rite Aid (which really is 24 hours) is right across the street. Their every day prices and sales are much better. Most of the staff is pleasant, much more so than Duane.

The best thing this Duane Reade has going for it is location. You can’t really beat being in PATH Plaza. The recent renovation has made it clean and bright.
The groceries are plentiful, albeit on the expensive side. Kudos for having lots of healthy, vegetarian option; I love that I can get prepped veggies for cooking, tofu, Amy’s frozen foods, and soy «meat» products here. Also, organization is a whole lot better– it used to be really scattered.
I don’t understand some of the purchasing department’s choices though. An entire aisle of Spanish spices and such but no basic, boxed pasta? A beautiful new one hour photo department but no photo albums or frames whatsoever? Even King’s Pharmacy has a basic selection of frames, and they work well in a gift pinch.
As previously stated, a lot of the employees are really rude. Either that or they’re completely vapid. The managers conduct business on the sales floor. Frequently. I know it’s not exactly luxury shopping, but I still don’t want to hear who’s taking what break when or any other inner workings of the store.
They screwed up and activated my new reward card incorrectly but then NO-​ONE could fix it. Now it has to be looked up by phone number every single time I use it, and that usually gets met with eye rolls as if I’m trying to make their job more difficult.
The pharmacy is terrible. They are even more rude than the cashiers, which is pretty darn pathetic. They have given me the WRONG prescription. And that’s nothing compared to the attitude they give me every time I fill anything there. Unfortunately, I literally pass it from train to home, so it makes the most sense to go there but I always end up wishing I weren’t tied to the convenience because it’s an awful experience always. For example, they’ve fixed my address in the computer probably three times in the year since I’ve lived at my current address. It’s still wrong. The other day, I was there and the bright, cheerful woman the register said: well, I SEE IT right here so obviously you never changed it. Ugh.
All in all though, it’s not a bad store and it would be good even, if they could just get their personnel issues straight.

Recently revamped it’s looking quite nice.
Two floors, centrally located at the Path plaza it will do if I have to pick up something whilst traveling through.

ACtually I would have given no stars! The customer servi8ce at photo centre was soo nasty, Ms Kiswara, i still remember her name showed me attitude after making me wait for 20 mins to print a photo!!! Horrible!

I go to this Duane Reade because it’s convenient but I often leave disappointed because the people at the registers are some of the unfriendliest bunch. I worked in retail for a long time and was taught that you always… always say hello and thank you. It’s just a simple idea that the customer likes to be acknowledged. I leave feeling bad that I spent my money there!

Located in Journal Square where the PATH train operates. This Duane Reade has two levels and they sell everything here. And they are open late.

always stop here on my way into work to pick up gum, drinks, snacks, etc. but really, that’s all its good for. don’t both buying anything else, cause the prices are double what you would pay at Target/​Walmart, etc. Once I needed to stop and pick up shampoo and conditioner, it cost me over $ 15 for both bottles! If i hadn’t been in a rush, I would have stopped at Target but i had no choice at the time.
the staff is always very friendly too :)

Nasty & Rude Pharmacy Dept. They hung up on me just because I’m asking questions! Sad Sad Sad Bitter Workers! Just changed to Rite Aid.

easy, helpful and quick service which only reflects the basic and easy layout of the store. no matter what time of day, you know where the magazines, soda, stationary, and cough drops are. my moments at the pharmacy have been all positive with staff who are cordial and have my prescriptions on-​time.

Late at night, there’s this unhappy-​looking security guard who follows you around the store to make sure you’re not shoplifting. It’s so frustrating. Makes you want to grab those 2 for $ 3 Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and make a run for it.

Right at the Journal Square PATH station. Two floors filed with all of your grocery needs. Service isn’t too bad either. There’s usually a slight line in the early evenings but it’s not too terrible.
It’s open till midnight during the week, I believe. Also has a pharmacy and a 1 hour photo spot. As good as a Duane Reade can get and the location can’t be beat for us commuters.