Steven B.
A Flaw in Processing and Customer Satisfaction
With more than 20 years as a GM in the hospitality industry my self, I teach staff to listen and ask the extra questions to go beyond and make a memorable experience. The Walgreens at Dempster and Crawford in Skokie for starters does not answer the phone in the pharmacy at all. Instead you listen to a message stating one person is a head of you for the next hour and still no one picks up the phone. Frustrating beyond belief as a long time customer. Second, The young ladies and gentlemen working the customer line are always very pleasant and I can see that they want to help and be efficient, but for some reason the prescriptions are not very organized and efficient for them to find quickly. They always have to step away and search multiple areas or ask the Pharmacist where the customers prescription is taking additional time away from a growing customer line of 5-10 customers. I am not sure what is in the Walgreens handbook but a 5-8 minute interaction once you reach the pharmacy's desk is unacceptable. In my business from the time you sit, you are greeted and served a beverage within the first 3 minutes. Heck McDonalds even has it written in there handbook the drive thru experience from time you place your order to the time you receive your order should be no more than a 3 minutes customer experience. Third, I personally followed through making sure that my insurance change and pre authorizations where all taken care of by calling my doctor to confirm she sent it, calling the insurance company to make sure they received it and everything was changed over correctly to have a smooth transaction at the Walgreens pharmacy's. The insurance company gave me specific instructions for the Pharmacists to call and ask for a supervisor in order for the billing to be picked up correctly. At this point I have been a week and a half with out testing my blood sugar and only needing to get Dexcom sensors and a transmitter. The insurance company warned me and passed the message to the Pharmacists that you will be told they cannot override the system and at that point ask for the supervisor because they can override the system in order for me to get the prescription filled and covered. Very simple instructions. Now I feel Pharmecists are usually very intelegent individuals but when you fail to LISTEN to your customer and follow the insurance companies 3 specific instructions, 1.Call 2. Hear they can not override it 3. Ask for the supervisor so they can override it and Walgreens can get their money and I can get my prescription. This is frustrating to me because I was made to feel like I don't now what I am talking about and treated like someone who is trying to scam the system in order to get prescription drugs when in reality I don't even need drugs just a sensor and transmitter to test my blood sugar to maintain my health and avoid serious health risks. I hope this review finds itself in the right hands at Walgreen's corporate and is evaluated and changes can be made not only to benefit Walgreens and there systems and processes for efficiency but also to benefit their customers experience