Duane Reade

I wish I could give zero stars. Not only are they grossly incompetent, But the discriminate against Gay people. I am in the process of starting a law suit.
106 street isn’t much better. All of the Duane Reade stores are a rip off. Barely ever have anything on sale, and they take forever to fill a prescription. Had to wait almost TWO days to get antibiotics. Why don’t they get called on being a monopoly!

Yes, some of the staff make mistakes but let’s not act like these people calling that out are perfect at their own jobs. Let’s not act like some of them don’t complain a little too much about small, meaningless things like paying a dollar or two for something — because they do and I’ve seen them. I’ve seen people bitching and moaning over a $ 2 difference because something wasn’t on sale anymore. I’ve seen people bitch about a $ 1 difference. It got really tiresome standing on line and having to look at some piece of trash (usually a bitter, middle-​aged white guy who’s super mad he didn’t have it made in life) harass a cashier over some of the most meaningless shit ever.
I’ve gone here to pick up prescriptions too and here’s another thing I didn’t like — People were allowed to buy regular stuff at the pharmacy. I saw somebody in front of me buy 2 packs of Corona, which is basically right next to the register upstairs but yet he had to buy it down here. How could management have so little spine to let this slide? Am I gonna go to a Rite Aid, take a protein bar and just buy it at the pharmacy if I think I’m too good to go to the fucking counter? No. This is why it was a chore coming here. Even for a prescription.
And word to management — These people aren’t above you because they’re white, Asian or go to Columbia. You’re better than that.

There is this super sweet lady at the counter each time I pop in on my walk to work. She’s always wishing you a great day and provides service with a smile. So to her — thank you ma’am. I know the day to day in those retail jobs can be brutal, people treat you like crap and barely acknowledge your existence. So here’s to her — certainly makes the experience much more enjoyable.

Seen one Duane Reade seen them all. What distinguishes (and I use the term loosely) is that this store «employs» perhaps the worst cashier among the literally hundreds of Duane Reades that haunt the city. This particular cashier was too busy speaking with her fellow employee to even make eye contact with me so instead of even calling «next customer» or anything remotely or vaguely polite she simply waved me over with her hand (how imperious) still too immersed in her conversation to actually acknowledge a paying customer.
She made no eye contact throughout the transaction and said nothing when the transaction was completed. She seemed a bit surprised when I asked to speak with her manager. Only then did she actually acknowledge me. I did wait and speak to an assistant manager and told her I would not return to this store. Being ignored and treated dismissively is hardly a hallmark of attentive retail success.
Look, I know it is not the best job in the world, but if you want to ignore customers you can do that just as easily standing outside the store rather than collecting a wage (and hopefully benefits) inside it while making paying customers feel invisible.
If she does not want or like her job, I’m sure someone else would love the opportunity to do better. Hey, it would hard to do worse.

Tried to print a photo here, but the staff had not bothered to turn the photo printer on. The printer was eventually able to print my photo claim receipt, but had no record of my photo and order in the system, since the machine had been off, so there was nothing to print. 30 min wasted because someone had not managed to hit an on button, and even once they had figured that out, they still seemed to think their machine would magically have a record of my order and be able to print it…

I was sent here following a terrible prescription filling ordeal from the Duane Reade on 108 and Amsterdam. After already waiting 20 minutes for my prescription at another location and being sent here my patience was close to nil. The prescription wasn’t ready. They earned an extra star because the person said she would go check on it immediately, but she never came back. After waiting another half hour, I finally got my script with no explanation it apology for the wait.

This is a pretty horrible Duane Reade. Granted, they are all horrible, but still.
The prices are nuts. The staff makes me feel like they’re having the worst day ever with their attitude. And the pharmacy — don’t even get me started. Typical NYC — minimum 2 hour wait for your Rx to be filled (man, do I miss living in MI when it was a 15 minute wait!), but they are just so, extremely unhelpful when trying to ask about different over the counter drugs.
No thanks!

This is the worst Duane Reade and worst convenience store I have ever been in. Chronically understaffed and the staff are about as nice and helpful as you expect when the crew of 3 that’s there needs another 3 people working. Food selection and odds n ends selection okay.
The pharmacy is terrible. I’ve always preferred independent pharmacies when they are available but I have used chain pharmacies and this one is miserable. The line always stretches down half the aisle. The techs that ring you up barely speak and just don’t care. The pharmacist doesn’t help when you ask. The line takes forever to move. They are chronically out of common medicine (both rx and OTC) in common dosages, e.g., Coumadin, Benadryl, Claritin, Allegra, Lovenox, almost all opioid pain medication, etc. I don’t get it.
The pharmacist said about the allergy meds I mentioned «we stock it every day but it’s sold out in a few hours». So order more! You know it’s allergy season.
I don’t get it. The only saving grace is the pharmacy is open 24 hours a day. Better to call ahead and see if they have what you want. If you have to use a chain pharmacy because of insurance or prices or whatever, Costco sells at cost and the pharmacists there are helpful. You do NOT need a membership to use the pharmacy thanks to a federal regulation passed long ago.

Worst pharmacy I’ve been to. I met 6 pharmacists in total and 4 of them were arrogant and VERY rude. That did not bother me much, as long as I could get my medication. Today they really pissed me off because they called me yesterday saying my medication was rrady for pickup, but when I went there this morning, they told me it’s not ready. The staff was terribly aloof during the whole process. I don’t know what’s wrong with this place, really. Would give zero star or negative stars if possible.

These duane is pretty small, but it pretty much has everything that you would need. I have been here quite a few times and the line hasn’t ever gotten very long. The cashiers are really nice and friendly. What else can you ask for?

I found that most items are like $ 3-​$ 4 more expensive compared to Riteaid which is just 1 block away. So I always buy my meds & toiletries at Riteaid even if this DuaneReade store is closer from where I live.

If I could give 0 stars I would. Absolutely terrible pharmacy service. The people working here have no care about people coming in for prescriptions, nor are they very helpful. I went in to get a prescription and they claimed that my information wasn’t on file although I’d gotten prescriptions there over 4 times. Meanwhile I’m sick with the flu trying to call my provider to get them to give me my prescription. I was there for over 40 minutes.

After waiting for some time, I was called to the counter by a young female clerk who could not find my prescription. When this was finally accomplished she stopped ringing me up to answer a personal phone call but pretended to click on the cash register keyboard as she answered questions from her sister at home. After approximately five minutes, and I am not exaggerating, she finally told the person on the line that she was with a customer and then returned her attention back to me. I presented a prepaid prescription card to pay for my prescription but she did not want to except it. She seemed ready to argue no matter what the situation. When I told her I had checked the card before coming there and everything was fine she just shook her head and said I had to find another way to pay. My husband who was standing next to me said to her, «No, no, it will work– let us swipe it on your machine.» She argued again but I reached out and swiped it and the payment showed as paid in full just like I had hoped. She shook her head and voided the entire transaction and made me start over with new arguments that I could not use that card. This time she had a nasty tone to her voice so I did raise my voice back at her because I was so frustrated.
The female pharmacist them then came forward to the counter and asked what was the matter, and was also yelling and very rude to me. I explained how I wanted to pay with the prepaid card and she indicated that I should go ahead and swipe it which I did. It worked perfectly and my prescription did not end up costing me one cent. This should’ve been a happy ending except that the young clerk and the pharmacist kept yelling at me and so I stepped to the side and explained to the pharmacist (whose name is NAYAB H) that there was no reason for the clerk to speak nasty to me and I did not appreciate it as a customer. I also indicated that she took a personal phone call in the middle of my transaction. Pharmacist Nayab H then told me, «She did not take a personal phone call, you’re wrong. That’s a customer line, only customers call there.» I assured her it was a personal phone call and asked her why she was being rude to a customer who’s been coming to that pharmacy for 20 years… then she started raising her voice more and that is when I asked her name.
I indicated I was going to write about her on Unilocal and then she screamed in front of the whole lower level of the store, «GO AHEAD, Unilocal AWAY.» So here I am, and very sad and confused how this even came about and that I have to change pharmacies after so many years. Bye bye Duane Reade pharmacy –I’ve had it with you; this was the last straw of bad service. You will never have the opportunity to treat me this way again.
I have given one star because zero is not a choice. Make this your pharmacy only if you want to be treated rudely and given the worst service ever like you’re dirt.

Hands down the worst pharmacy in all of Manhattan. I’ve gone there with two fairly common prescriptions, yet they didn’t have them in stock and took days to order them. OH. and when the prescriptions were ready, no one bothered to let me know like they said they would. The customer service in the pharmacy is deplorable. If they’re overwhelmed, hire some new staff members so you can manage the intake. I won’t be using them again.

This store is now Walgreens, I call it Hellgreens formally Duane GReed!
Rude, slow unconcerned service. Oh hold with horrible to me ‚“music” blasting in my ear for so long I’ve hung up many times.
I just hung up on a very rude pharmacy worker. I had been discussing meds and refills with another person who asked to put me on hold for a moment; the second person picked up. When I asked to speak with the first person I had been consulting with I was told she was «busy»! I said yes, she was busy with me. «What’s your date of birth was the reply. I asked to speak with the original woman and was again told she’s busy what’s your date of birth, I’m talking to you now! I hung up.
The «service» is appalling! We are a captive audience!

I’ve never written a Unilocal review, but I think it’s important that some attention be drawn to the fact that this Duane Reade pharmacy is terrible.
After two years, I am taking my meds elsewhere. Unless you come in at really off-​peak hours (and I’m talking, like, middle of the night), you’ll have to stand in line for at least 10 minutes. And there’s only ever one pharmacy window open, even when the line is 8 people long.
Several times my prescriptions have been messed up here – in my most recent case, after I dropped off a (paper) prescription, they told me they had to wait for insurance to fill it (OK) and then left me a voicemail several days later saying it went through. I came to the store almost a week after I originally dropped off the prescription, and they had no prescription ready for me and had actually lost the paper prescription I brought in.
I chose this Duane Reade because of its convenient location, but its inconvenient service outweighs its close distance. I’ll be transferring my prescriptions to a pharmacy farther away in the hopes it will be less of a headache.

One star only because I can’t give zero.
If you’re looking for poor pharmacy service and your prescription to be messed up 9 times out of 10 then this is the Duane Reade for you. There’s only one guy who works there that doesn’t suck, I think his name is Randall but that could be wrong. The pharmacy is frequently under staffed so lines stretch the entire length of the store, combine that with them messing up people’s prescriptions and you have like a 25 to 30 minute wait. When you finally reach the register, they’ll loudly rattle off the names of all of your medications (I’m pretty sure the staff there thinks HIPAA is just the female version of a hippo), so don’t worry about all the customers in the store finding out you’re picking up anti psychotics and medication for your incontinence, you can know for sure that they will.
As for the upper floor, they’re very stingy with taking bottles and cans back so don’t even bother. On the bright side they sell pain killers to get rid of the headache you get from dealing with the pharmacy staff. I eventually got sick of them and ended up transferring my prescriptions to Broadway Chemists (on 86^th, they deliver to the neighborhood for free!) even though they’re further away, because the service, they are so much better. Even the staff at Broadway Chemists had trouble with this DR when switching my prescriptions and ended up just calling my Dr for new ones instead.
If you do have to use this pharmacy out of necessity and desperation (the only reason I’d ever go back) check that you got the correct medication and all of your medications before you leave the store as reaching them by phone is impossible, and like I said, they will almost always mess something up. Also don’t attempt delivery. They’ll tell you your prescriptions are all set to be delivered. You’ll call and confirm and they’ll reassure you that they will be delivered. A few days will go by, you’ll get concerned and call again and then be told your credit card isn’t on file so they couldn’t deliver. You’ll ask why nobody called to tell you that and why the three people you talked to said you were all set and they’ll just mumble something about their coworkers sucking and you’ll once again find yourself waiting in their endless pharmacy line.
TL;DR if you value your time or sanity, GET YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS SOME WHERE ELSE!!!

The one guy pharmacist is the only reason they are getting two stars.
Everyone else here is NASTY and RUDE and unhelpful.
Don’t even try to call them to ask if you can take over the counter meds with your prescriptions… the female pharmacist with the attitude will give you a «yeah i guess so» …After being on hold for 30 minuets… I don’t want someone to guess if I can take Benadryl without dying… I GUESS.
Also, calling me 5 times a day to see when I will pick my script up… are you fucking kidding me?! I’ll pick it up when I have time… SORRY It hasn’t been there for a week its been not even a few days…

There’s really nothing too spectacular or terrible about this Duane Reade. It has most of what you’re looking for, it’s well stocked, there’s the usual Chase ATM, and the lines move at a fairly quick pace.
Although I’ve never had a problem here, I am a little sad that this location has not yet been renovated to the new DR — you know, the one with the ‘fresh’ fruits and the Delish line of food.
Maybe some day, Duane Reade. Maybe some day…

Man, this location is mega slow. However, most of what I am ever looking for is on the top floor, and I can get what I want pretty quickly to stand in line.
Not my favorite location but often convenient. Always has what I’m looking for.