Elizabeth M.
19 days to get a medication; no communication and no way to get a manager
I have given Centerwell at least 6 chances to get this right before writing a negative review. On July 20 I requested a prescription renewal with my provider, and received confirmation. On September 18, when I expected my medication to ship again, I found out that Centerwell did not have this on file, and requested a renewal again with my provider. I learned that Centerwell does not alert customers when their prescriptions have expired. (The customer service team points out that that's on me. Understood.) My provider submits the new prescription on September 21. On September 23, I pay for the medication and request it be delivered on September 25. On September 28, I reach out as it hasn't arrived. I find out that my card had an error, but that Centerwell does not alert customers to shipment issues - I can see in the portal that it was not shipped, but no alert. I call to seek resolution. It took 40 minutes for me to provide a new card on file. After 30 minutes, having already provided the card information, I asked the customer service representative if I could receive a call back when the transaction was complete. I was at work and really did not expect a 30 minute phone call to pay a bill. The rep let me know that the process would start over if I requested a call back, so I stayed on the line to have that filled. Because of the shipping delay, my doctor advised that I actually needed to drop down to a lower dose of the medication and build back up tolerance to the higher dose. They submitted the new prescription on September 29. I called Centerwell, explained that I needed to switch doses, and I was told the medication would be processed. On October 5 I called Centerwell, perplexed as to why my medication had still not shipped. I was told the prescription was automatically paused because a different prescription had recently shipped. They assured me that the prescription would be processed within 24 hours. I asked for a call back from a manager to explain my experience - that I had missed three key notifications from Centerwell that would have allowed me to get my medication on schedule: 1) prescription due for renewal 2) billing error 3) prescription rejected/paused. 48 hours later, today - I called back because I had not received a shipping notification. I was told the same thing as two days prior: my prescription had been paused because I had a different dose on record. There was no indication that anything had been done about my issue two days prior. First, I was told that I needed to start over with my doctor for a new prescription. After being on hold for a while, I was redirected to Novocare who successfully processed the prescription - it did not need to be resolved by my doctor's office at all. On the phone today I asked to speak to a manager to share my feedback. The line went silent. I asked if they were still there - they were. I repeated myself and asked if I could speak with or receive a callback from a manager. Silence. I asked a variety of ways - are you hearing me? Can you respond yes or no? Should I take your silence as a no? I asked no less than twenty times. Sometimes the customer service rep would start over and suggest a different next step. I would ask the person to answer my question about a manager. The conversation to get my medication lasted 50 minutes. All told, I have been waiting 19 days to get medication, and spent upwards of 2 hours on the phone. I have had to miss work obligations because the phone calls took so long. But really, the part that did it was the absolute crazy-making of asking to speak to a manager about my experience and have silence or non sequitur response. It's shameful that a company that dispenses healthcare could have such disregard for timeliness, communication, and basic customer service. I'm just grateful my medication wasn't life-saving and doesn't cause damaging withdrawal symptoms.