Eckerd Drugs

This is really a review of what Eckerd’s has BECOME as Rite Aid has taken it over in the last month. Since Rite Aid has taken over Eckerd’s in Carlisle, the store has absolutely gone down the tubes. At the pharmacy, where I do most of my business collecting migraine medication for myself and prescriptions for aged parents, things have become particularly ugly.
When I went in recently to retrieve pain medications for my father’s recent back injury, it took the staff there nearly thirty minutes to fill the prescription. The pharmacy assistant, Bradlee, could barely bring herself to complete the prescription and was evidently unable to read the name of the patient on the bottle. This is understandable to some extent in terms of the doctor’s handwriting, but not when it’s printed-​out in front of her.
When I got to the register, it turns-​out that the credit card machine was not working. Bradlee and the other pharmacists failed to inform any of the customers of this issue. At the time, the manager who was supposed to be able to override this technical problem had decided that 11:00 AM would be an optimal time to make a bank run so she was not in the store with this crisis happening. I had to leave my father’s medications at the store and drive to an ATM. Mind you, I could’ve done this while I was waiting the half an hour for someone to fill the script, but for the Rite Aid staff, that was too logical.
I drove away to get cash and then came back, furious and stuck behind a man who wanted to use his card but was again informed that he could not. The bar code on his water didn’t work, despite Bradlee scanning it 10 times and typing the number in at least five. Finally she decided that she had to run off and retrieve a bottle to scan properly. After about 5 minutes of her finally figuring out the mysterious bar code, we were all set.
I paid for the items with cash and then managed to get out of there. I was absolutely furious and fuming at the lack of professionalism in that store since Rite Aid tookover. The head pharmacist, who we love and adore, Beth, is stretched thin and is not there every single day. Hence, on certain days it’s very much like the monkeys are running the zoo!
I will probably move my prescription to one of the supermarkets locally. I wish that there was a Walgreen’s with a 24-​hour pharmacy handy as Rite-​Aid closes at 5:00 PM on Sundays (and then calls you to tell you to pick-​up your prescription even after you’ve just tried). God help you if you have an emergency after 5:00 PM that you need your medications on the weekends.