Duane Reade

I’m reviewing the atrocious pharmacy here only. I’m sitting at the pharmacy waiting area right now, waiting and waiting for a very simple prescription. When I first came to the counter, there was a lady who was already waiting. Waiting because the TWO counter ladies were so busy talking and talking and talking to each other instead of paying any attention to their customers. And of course, filling a simple prescription takes forever. What a joke.
Go to CVS next time Unilocalers! This place doesn’t deserve or want your business.

I stopped in to this Duane Reade to get a $ 20 out of the ATM, buy a pack of gum, and get a little change for tips at a Unilocal event I was going to attend. After handing over the $ 20 to buy the gum, I asked the cashier to make change in singles if possible. I was handed back about $ 8, and told her that I should be getting more than $ 8 because paid with a $ 20. Rather than keeping her cool, she practically yelled «I know that was a $ 10.» After some back and forth, she counted the register, went to see a manager, and eventually realized she was wrong and made the correct change. I’ve worked in retail and understand that customers do try to get cashiers to give them extra change, but the store could have handled the situation with a little more class. I almost missed the Unilocal event check-​in deadline too because the store was in no hurry to investigate. I won’t be back to this location again.

So I admit, Duane Reade… five stars… pretty implausable, right?
Except that the pharmacy staff here is so helpful and fantastic that they make up for all of the cramped, overpriced irritation of shopping at Duane Reade. They always help me out immediately when I call in a refill and I don’t have my prescription number handy. They fill prescriptions right away when I bring them in — like in 10 minutes, even if I don’t ask, unlike other places where you have to beg and plead to get something filled in the same day, let alone the same hour.
The best thing is, when there’s a problem with my prescription, they don’t make me call the doctor to get it sorted out — they just take care of it for me. What more can you possibly ask for?
Duane Reade pharmacy staff, you out-​rock the 1970s Rolling Stones.

I don’t normally review very well-​known fast food joints (like McD’s) or drugstores like this, seeing as we all know what a Duane Reade is… but at this particular store the service was just so horrendous and some of the products not well-​kept.
I came to this store because it’s caddy-​corner to my apartment. I got Rxs filled here and came for my everyday things like shampoo and milk. Recently I’ve transferred my Rxs over to CVS down the street at 86^th and Amsterdam because of how poor the service was at this pharmacy.
The Rx I refill every month had been in Duane Reade’s system for MONTHS. Yet, every time I called to refill it, the pharmacist that works on Sundays, failed to do his job correctly. He’s incredibly hard to understand on the phone and every single month I called he said there were no refills left in my Rx, he didn’t have the right information and said I didn’t transfer the Rx correctly when I moved it from one Duane Reade to this one. I won’t go into the fight I had on the phone with his man, but the fact is that they never had the correct information any time I called (after having updated it the first time) and I was always hassled every time I needed a refill, him telling me I needed to call my doctor to get refills, when she set me up for a year’s worth and I saw her just a few months ago. It was such bullshit. So… I switched. They lost my business at their pharmacy.
Recently they also lost my business at their store. Now I don’t even shop there for everyday things because of how slow the lines get at the front cashiers. Help is never called when they’re backed up and they really just don’t ever seem to know what they’re doing. Returns are rocket science to these guys.
To top it off, the brand new stockings I bought from them (the last time I will step foot in that store) were ripped when I pulled them out of the box. Unfortunately I had thrown out the receipt so could not return them, but alassss I will never return!
Go to CVS instead: much friendlier service, much better rewards if you’re a member (cash included!) unlike Duane Reade’s point system, and excellent service at the pharmacy.