A SHOPPER has blasted CVS after long waits to get prescription refills.
They begged the retailer to have more staff to assist during operating hours to remedy the situation.
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“For God’s sake, @cvspharmacy if you want all of the business? Then you have to hire some people!” exclaimed the customer, Lisa, in a post on X earlier this month.
“You cannot expect people in a busy city to wait in line for an hour just to pick up a prescription anytime you go day or night.”
Lisa claimed that only a single “exhausted” CVS pharmacist was completing refills for the long line of consumers.
CVS quickly responded and assured her it would investigate, but more details were required to do so.
“Hi Lisa, we take these matters seriously and would like to follow up to learn more,” a spokesperson wrote back.
“For our team to better assist, can you please direct message us with your full name and your CVS location?”
Lisa commented that she had done just that.
It’s unclear if the incident was later resolved or not.
The U.S. Sun has contacted CVS for comment.
NOT ALONE
Either way, it wouldn’t be the first time the drugstore chain has been called out for long prescription wait times recently.
A furious mother claimed an employee shut down the pharmacy drive-thru window on her only one minute after a closure time of 5:00 pm when she was one of several cars waiting in a line.
“Was 3rd in the drive-thru line @cvspharmacy for my daughter’s amoxicillin prescription (ear infection) at 4:50,” she wrote in a separate post on X.
“Pull up to the window at 5:01. ‘Sorry, we’re closed.’ Are you freaking kidding me?”
“I was the only car left. I am fuming. AND it doesn’t open til 11am. Close the line,” the customer added.
CVS closes 900 stores
CVS Health is finishing up its three-year plan to close 900 stores.
CEO Karen Lynch said it has shut down 851 so far, The Associated Press reported in August 2024.
The company announced the plan in November 2021, saying that the closures would lead to a retail presence that ensures it has the “right kinds of stores in the right locations for consumers and for the business,” per CNN.
The shutdowns amount to almost 10% of CVS’s footprint, in response to the shifting of “consumer buying patterns.”
The closures are part of a wider change in strategy of the company’s almost 10,000 locations.
Some stores have been removed to include more health services, such as primary care, and an “enhanced version” of CVS’s HealthHub layout.
“We remain focused on the competitive advantage provided by our presence in thousands of communities across the country, which complements our rapidly expanding digital presence,” Lynch said in 2021.
The shutdowns cost the company approximately $1 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to CNN.
CVS again promised to look into the situation and requested more information from the mom.
She likely responded through a private message as directed.
The company is also currently in the middle of aggressive cost-cutting strategies.
COST CONSCIOUS
More than 2,900 staff were laid off and 900 stores were closed since 2021 to save around $2 billion.
The closures account for about 10% of CVS retail footprint.
Measures were put in place by former CEO Karen Lynch, who was succeeded by current CEO David Joyner in October of last year.
Joyner also recently assured consumers that the cost of prescriptions at CVS would be lower soon despite “egregious price hikes” from pharmaceutical manufacturers.
CVS also notably got rid of a popular anti-theft feature in favor of a first-of-its-kind addition.
