I doubt this review will do anything but might as well. This store's workers were absolutely abhorrent and disrespectful in their treatment of me and another customer tonight. I offered to help an unhoused person buy a meal for the night. As she was picking out a drink from the aisle in the back (it had been maybe half a minute, she wasn't disturbing anyone), a ponytailed older male employee got right in her face and started yelling "You smell!" and "I don't want you here! You smell!" over and over again. To top it off he physically assaulted the customer as well, forcibly yanking her away from the aisle because he presumed she was "dirtying the aisle with her blanket." Fortunately he didn't escalate the attack, the customer was able to disengage and said "Please don't touch me again." He proceeded to make a comment about how he doubted "she would buy the stuff anyways."
At this point I jumped in and stated I would be paying for her things. After freezing for a moment he proceeded to turn on me and yelled "Then GET HER OUT OF HERE! GET HER OUT OF HERE and there won't be any problems!" What problems? We were minding our own business before he decided to assault a customer. Other customers were staring at us, wondering what could be going on in the back drinks aisle of a Walgreens. Needless to say we did not waste our time trying to reason or argue with the worker and left immediately after paying.
There were so many other more respectful, understanding ways to go about this interaction. If he truly believed the customer was "causing a disturbance" (Which again, she wasn't. She was picking out a good from the aisle.) he could have easily said so and we could have reached an agreement from there. Or better yet, been left alone to pick out the food and then leave promptly. This was pointless, needless cruelty in the entire sense of the word, meant to do little than demean and violently harass someone quite literally starving to death on the doorstep of the establishment. What's more, the funny line of "the customer is always right" seems to fly out the proverbial window when a paying customer is perceived as associating with an unhoused person. This employee was intentionally going out of their way to harass an unhoused civilian quietly trying to grab a meal and someone trying to help them. Needless to say, I won't be coming back. Also I hope this older ponytailed guy with spectacles operating the back aisle at 8:45 pm on 1/29/2024 gets fired. Thanks!
this Walgreens is two floors with all the medicine being on the second floor. I arrived 20 minutes before the store was closing in desperate need of some over-the-counter medicine and found the upstairs to be chained off. Nowhere online did they mention that it would only be a grocery store for the last hour of the source operation. I had spent $30 on an Uber to come across town as this was the only Walgreens that had the medication I needed. I asked if I could be let upstairs to get important medication and was told no.
Standing at the front of the store, I called the store phone number and spoke to my manager. The manager did eventually bring medication for me to purchase; however, while waiting, I watched a Staff member and security guard began forcing the door shut by hand, and telling people that the store was closed 15 minutes before it was stated closing time on the stores website. I watched a man outside, screamed through the window that they were still open for 10 minutes and he needed fever reducer for his child at home and the store clerk told him "we close 10 minutes before 11. Try the 7-Eleven four blocks over."
The staff member who had been working with the security guard first the door shut saw me standing there waiting… Not knowing I was waiting on the manager to bring me the medication..... He began yelling at me, barking that I needed to make a purchase, go to the register, and exit the store. I tried to ignore him as I didn’t want to confrontation, but he continued yelling until eventually I told him I was waiting on the manager.
here’s the deal. I get it. Nobody likes to work late. But if you hate working late, that bad take a different job. Walgreens is a drugstore. People should be able to expect to show up during the posted hours and be able to purchase medication. especially in a town where an Uber can easily cost you $25 each way. if the store wants to close at 10:45, then post that as the actual hours. And if the store wants to close the top floor where over-the-counter medication‘s are kept At a different time than the rest of the store, then they should also post that as well. denying someone access to purchasing medication who has done nothing to warrant being banned from the store is a dangerous situation. It’s not as though this is like a video game store or luxury item. Retail place. Some of the things people are coming here to buy, they need desperately, and they need them at the moment. Walgreens should be able to fulfill the commitment to being open during the hours that it states to thr public that it is open. .
Lame!! I usually got my medication from the Walgreens @500 Geary street but, that one closed & it took me essentially a week & a half to get all my meds figured out but when I did I introduced myself to the pharmacist Kim so I can get to know each other like I did at the other location so hopefully it'll be better but I was able to grab a fresh salad on my way out so that was nice
