UPDATE: The regional manager of the Rite Aid stores in our area contacted me thanking me for providing this feedback. It appears that they have updated (for the most part) the online store hours on the Rite Aid store to reflect actual pharmacy hours as posted on the entrance to the building onsite. They have not yet updated their automated phone hours yet, however, but based on the fact that the regional manager contacted me in response to this I am hopeful those changes are going to be enacted soon. For this reason and the fact the next morning after the experience my father and I had that I received a direct phone call from the pharmacist indicating my father's order was now ready for pick-up, I am increasing my rating from 1-star to 2-star. I appreciate that they have taken the time to respond to my concerns but I am still waiting to see these updates take place on their automated voicemail and providing enough capacity for their staff to meet the needs of the community - or to at least communicate their capacity so as not to give false hopes/expectations when folks are attempting to have orders filled within same day.
ORIGINAL POST: Tonight my ill father spent nearly 3 hours waiting for a prescription to be filled by the staff at the pharmacy. The staff did not set authentic and appropriate expectations for him, giving him direction to come back at 5 pm, in which he does but then is told to come back at 6 pm, which he does again and they have still not filled it. He lives over 30 minutes away, and after this long proceeds to give up and head home. He is then notified by the automated system his prescription is ready. I, as his daughter, think it better for him to save his strength and I call at 6:50 pm several times to be connected with the pharmacist to confirm the refill is in fact ready before I commit to driving myself all the way 30 minutes one way to obtain the prescription for my father. No one picks up and I'm automatically redirected back to the main greeting which says the pharmacy hours are open until 8 pm on Friday. I check the website for Rite Aide Oak Harbor to see the hours on their actual website and it also says 8 pm for pharmacy being open. I proceed to take the risk and go north to pick up my father's prescription. I arrive around 7:20 (30 minutes after I tried to call and speak with an actual person in the pharmacy to confirm their hours and that the prescription was ready), and the pharmacy is CLOSED - at 7:20. The pharmacist shared that their tills are taken at 7 pm and they can't allow pick up until tomorrow at 9 am. The website and voicemail for the store says the pharmacy hours are until 8 pm. No one picked up the phone at 6:50 pm when I called and it was when they, according to their own words to me in person, were still open for business. This is unacceptable - to not have properly posted business hours on your communications channels that are publicly facing, and to be given inauthentic expectations of prescriptions being filled. I understand the times we live in and the stresses folks at individual branches are under to meet demand, but as a company, Rite Aid, this is unacceptable to have misinformation on your website not clearly communicating actual hours of operation. You should authentically communicate your current capacity and set realistic expectations on refill wait times, especially to older and ill adults and vulnerable populations. It reflects very poorly on you and you lose the trust of your customers. Young folks like me don't appreciate seeing older people suffer on the account of poor management, which starts at the top of your corporate model. Do better. Provide more support to your staff. More training, or at the very least improve your external facing communications to be truthful!
