Why CVS Sucks Now...And Is Getting Worse

There's a crime wave at CVS, but you're being lied to about who's behind it. The company is under-staffing stores, underpaying workers, and forcing pharmacists to chase money at the expense of patient safety. “I’m afraid I’m going to kill someone,” said one pharmacist.
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[apolk]

When I went to pick up a prescription at CVS last week, the Pharmacist said she was there ALL BY HERSELF. She was filling prescriptions, answering the phone, and tending to customers at both the drive-thru and the counter. No one should have to work like that.

[zdzisawdyrman]

Is it just me or is the main problem in the US that every company wants to squeeze every penny out of the system no matter what just to please the shareholders which leads to a whole lot of absurdity... ?

[WhiskeyNixon]

I'm convinced that a lot of companies saw what happened during covid, said to themselves, 'wow, people will put up with this?' and then just ran with it.

[Srrybtheryu]

I worked at CVS from 2012-2018 in Las Vegas. Worked almost every store & I can tell you, CVS has BEEN terrible. Worst company I’ve ever worked for, easy.

[chernobyl]

CVS saw Family Dollar and said "wait I can do that too"

[jaysoto]

a 1.5 million dollar fine for a company with yearly profit of 8+ billion is simply a small cost of doing business for them.
absolute joke

[shadowninja]

Part of why CVS is so bad is because the government for some reason let them buy up Aetna, one of the largest insurance companies in the US. I still have NO CLUE how the government didn't see the blatantly obvious conflict of interest of a pharmacy owning the insurance company and negotiating with themselves on how they reimburse themselves for prescription drugs.

[morganpatterson]

I stopped working in a pharmacy because it was all about numbers. Get through as many patients as possible, rush, go faster. I felt like I was contributing to a major problem, so I had to get out of there.

[KissyKaede]

Understaffing is a massive problem everywhere. The "skeleton crew -2" corporate cost-cutting strategy has to be outlawed.

[cbandtheradio]

I was a store manager at CVS for 3 years. I reported everything you’re seeing to HR, and it didn’t go well for me. All of this is true.

[owenamenta]

It's almost as if an essential service like medication fulfillment should never be handled by institutions whose main goal is profit over being a public service.

[sherriweibert]

I stopped shopping at my local CVS years ago. Nearly the entire store is behind lock and key, it's low key dirty, has a weird smell, not well lit and I have to wait forvever to buy anything. Just small over the counter items are a 15, 20 minute wait because one employee is running the entire store. Not going to go back.

[theprofessional]

I worked at CVS in the past the problem is they believe that one guy can do the job of 3 people . This isn’t just a problem in pharmacy but also at front store. I was constantly expected to man the cashier, vacuum the front isles, face them, put throwbacks away and stock the front isles . I would help one customer then vacuum for a second and another would show up . It was so annoying running back and fourth. When I worked overnight truck I tried to ask the district manager for time and a half . She told me no. I said then what’s the point of working overnight destroying my health if I get the same wage. She said the incentive is I get more hours. This was such a scum company.

[jcolbyt]

Im a unlicensed pharmacy tech and after 2 months ive been asked (i refused) to do many things against my training, i actually got written up the other day for not finishing my tasks after i left at my scheduled time because we were understaffed and over worked, i had to catch my bus or i would be walking 2 hours home. Mistakes are being made daily because corporate is completely disconnected from the reality of pharmacy, they need to up the pay and put money into more staff. The fact they made billions yet are systems run off 2005 java script and im new and already working 3 peoples jobs for less than they get paid at mcdonalds

[ninehundreddollarluxuryyac]

Its what monopolies do. Both political parties allowed corporations to buy their competition until we wound up with two pharmacy corporations, . Four corporations control all the meat sold in America, and that's why food is so expensive now. No matter what you need, there is a monopoly that overcharges you with no fear of being undersold by a competitor. The prices have nothing to do with cost to manufacture and deliver.

[someonesomeone]

I worked at a Walgreens Pharmacy for 5 months as a cashier. In that time, I was unable to finish more than 1 of their supposedly mandatory training courses due to the fact that the only time I could do the training was when we didn't have anything else to do. The thing is, you always have something to do in a Pharmacy. I really just had to learn on the fly.

[Cirex]

Understaffing needs to be counted as illegal and counted as a safety risk.
Companies need to stop cutting corners for profits and stop cutting labor.

[flamingcat]

My father was a Pharmacist manager 10 years ago at a CVS- he did the math and in order to meet the metrics CVS was pushing, he only had 7 seconds per prescription to check the prescription and fill it. When you factor in making sure its the right drug, the right dosage for weight, has no interactions with other drugs someone is prescribed, that the customer doesn't have questions about how to take it, or has questions about complicated insurance and discounts, it's a wonder more people don't die than already do. I can't imagine it's gotten any better since

[batcactus]

All these crappy corporate stores are hellish. They destroyed local pharmacies, bookstores, stationery stores, lunch counters, blah blah blah.

[community]

There are creepy people going into CVS and walking out with stuff without paying - that is what is going on here.