Wally World

I don't know about you and your family but I guess that my family spends a couple to a few thousand dollars at Walmart annually. I always go there for groceries, dry goods, kids clothes....the list goes on. I even use their pharmacy...or I did until I got shorted on Ambien from them.
For about the last year or so, my husband likes to go off on a tirade about Walmart and about their lack of service. I have always just ignored him and his rants. Yea, you have to wait in really long lines. They are always out of that THING that you need a lot of times. The pharmacy lines and waiting times are horrendous...especially when you have two small children that are nutting up.
BUT here is why I will not use Walmart anymore. I don't care if I have to pay more or not for the things I buy or if I have to go to multiple stores to get what I need.
On November 23, 2008 I had my prescriptions refilled. I had the Ambien that I use nightly for sleep refilled. I get 18 tablets of 10mg Ambien in a bottle. Despite the fact that my doctor has written that I can take 1/2 to 1 tablet (5mg-10mg nightly) at bedtime for sleep, my insurance company doesn't want to pay for 30 pills. So if I took one whole pill a night, I would only be able to get 18 nights of sleep (but that's a whole nuther story). So...Because I had a couple of pills left over from my last bottle (because I don't take 10mg every night...only rarely), I did not open the new prescription for a couple of days. When I did open the bottle, I noticed that it didn't seem to have as many pills in it as usual. I counted them. I counted 13. I recounted...13. I was 5 pills short. I told myself that I needed to call and ask them why I was missing 5 pills. I thought maybe it was an insurance issue even though the bottle said 18 pills on it. I didn't know. When I counted my pills it was at night and the pharmacy would have been closed. I took 1/2 a tablet. That was on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. So we did Thanksgiving and spent the weekend with Pete's parents in Augusta. I forgot to pack the Ambien in my bag so I didn't have them all weekend (no good sleep for me!!). Saturday night I took half a pill and Sunday night half a pill. Monday evening I called the pharmacy and spoke to the pharmacy intern. I knew exactly who I was talking to because I have gotten many prescriptions filled there and have seen him.
I explained the situation to him and asked if insurance had held back 5 pills for some reason. He checked my prescription and said that I was given 18 pills. Which I explained that I was not. So he said that they would have to count their stock to see if they were short. After some wait, he came back and said that their count matched what their master computer count stated. Huh! I told him that that was interesting because I still only got 13 tablets. I asked him if it was possible that someone pocketed the pills because I didn't have them. They had to be somewhere. He told me that the best they could do was to put a note on MY prescription stating that in order to get my rxs that I would have to have them counted first. I asked him how that would help them know if there was a theft problem if they just put a note on my rxs and not make some kind of report. What if someone else called and said they were missing meds too? How would they remember me and my complaint? They wouldn't be able to track anything. He handed me over to Nancy....the pharmacist.
Now, Nancy didn't tell me she was the pharmacist. I had to ask. I had to ask if she was familiar with the situation. Yes she said she had been told. She was very evasive. So I explained that I had not received the 5 pills and that the Intern wanted to put a note on my rxs and not make any sort of report or general notation. There was no tracking. She didn't seem to have a problem with his suggestion. Anyway, by the end of this whole conversation, she told me that their count was fine so she didn't know (and obviously was not concerned about what had happened to my 5 pills). She reminded me that Ambien was a controlled substance. I wasn't get my 5 pills being the drug seeker that I am. And I told Nancy that if she hadn't realized, I hadn't even said I WANTED those 5...my concern is that someone could be stealing meds from there and they weren't even interested in tracking a potential problem. I asked her "what if someone is pocketing meds?" She told me that she KNEW that no one from her pharmacy was stealing drugs. I asked her HOW she knew? Do they check each person at night before they go home? Pat each employee down and search purses? She said "We have something like that in place!" WHAT BS! All they seemed to be concerned with was that their master count matched their bottle count. But who is to say that someone didn't SAY they gave 18, kept 5 and only gave the 13 to me? How would they know the difference. Their master count would still be right.....
So I had to tell NANCY the pharmacist that I would have to have to move my rxs to some place else so that I wouldn't have to COUNT every pill I got to make sure no one was STEALING pills from me. Then I asked who she had to answer to. When I told her that it was disappointing to me that since they weren't interested in what I had to say, I would have to move my rxs, her response was, "that would be fine." Nice.
I called and made a complaint to their complaint HOT line. That was 3 days ago. No word back from ANYONE from Walmart.
So I say this...if you are going to use Walmarts pharmacy, you better count every pill you get from them...especially the controlled substances....yes even the Ambien. I don't know what kind of drug market there is out there for Ambien...but....And I dont know if someone isn't sleeping well that works there....I just don't know. But COUNT your drugs...and don't think that if you ever have a problem with them, that Nancy or the rest of the corporate folks are going to give a rats behind about you or your little complaints. Because in the end, NANCY thinks I'm some drug crazed seeker OF AMBIEN and that NO ONE in HER pharmacy would EVER STEAL meds.........RIGHT.......That NEVER happens!!
So for me and my family.......NO MORE WALMART!!! By the way, from what I understand, Kroger pharmacy and probably other pharmacies offer the $4 prescriptions if that't the sole reason you use Walmart's pharmacy. Lack of concern and inconvenience isn't in any way shape or form worth $4.