Anyone thinking of using the Minute Clinic at CVS then you better think again!
I needed to go to the doctor for a checkup on a few things and because I
was feeling like I had a bad sinus infection.instead of going to my normal
walk in emergency clinic, I decided to try out a drug store clinic. I was going
to go to the Walgreens clinic but I choose the Minute Clinic at CVS since I trusted the CVS brand. From the start things were a bit weird. First off, they didnt have a direct number. I wanted to find out if I needed to set an appointment and how much a visit would cost. Figuring that it couldnt cost more than my emergency clinic visit ($95) since they only have a nurse practitioner, I decided to just go and trust that CVS would take care of me.
I went to the store in Boynton
Beach on the corner of Boynton Beach Blvd. And Congress and arrived around 10am.
I went to the back of the store and spoke to the nurse practitioner. I told her
I think I have a sinus infection and I also wanted her to look at my itchy slap.
She said sure and told me the price would be $79-$89. Not feeling well, I
figured it would be the lower of the two, first mistake. Its $89 for new
patients which she could of just told me but intentionally mislead me (I found
out hours later it was $89 when I called their 877 number). She then looked me
over and prescribe amoxicillin and a pill for my sore throat. Im not sure why
she didnt give me a cough suppressant liquid since the thought of swallowing
more pills wasnt too appealing and I thought I would get a z pak for the sinus
infection since its only 5 days of pills with the z pak vs. 10 days and many
more pills with the amoxicillin. She told me a z pak was expensive and there
was no generic (I later found that out to be a lie).
I then told her about my scalp. She
kept avoiding the scalp questions so since I have dealt with it for a while I
suggested she just issue a refill of some medicine that worked for me in the
past. I then realized I forgot the bottle at home and told her I would run home
and would be back in 15 minutes. She then said she would have to charge me for a new visit! Real nice of CVSs minute clinic!
I then told her I would try to contact my doctor to get the name of it
but he wasnt available. I actually thought she would look at my scalp and ake
her own diagnoses since I told her about the scalp before the visit even
started! I then told her if she isnt able to address the scalp issue then I would
have to go to see my normal doctor at the emergency clinic. At that point she
said I should have brought the old bottle and if I ran home and got it then she
would only charge me $55 for another visit and would write one refill (real
nice of her!). Being short of funds, I declined the offer, paid the $89 fee and
bought some scalp over the counter product that she pushed on me.
After arriving home feeling ripped off and even more sick (the sinus pressure was building), I tried to call their 877 number to file a complaint or try to get my money back. After waiting for 20 minutes on their 877 line, I spoke to a rep. She actually seemed very knowledgeable and even knew clobetasol liquid I use on my scalp from time to time. She told me the nurse practitioner should of addressed the scalp issues and prescribed the clobetasol. She told me a manager would call me back in 7-10 days! Since I didnt want to wait 7-10 days, I then drove directly to me normal Dr. Tran in Delray Beach. I had to get the scalp issue addressed and I didnt want to take amoxicillin and more pills for my throat.
His fee was only $95 and he saw me right away. He wrote me a script for a z pak, guaifensen w codeine SYRUP for the cough and clobetasol liquid for the scalp It took him all of 5 minutes. No bs, no amateur hour games, just right to the point.
I spoke to the CVS store manager and figured she could pull some strings with the CVS Minute Clinic so I wouldnt have to wait 7-10 days for a resolution. I told her to try and get my money back or just issue a store credit at the CVS. She said someone from the Minute Clinic company would call. I waited for a hours but decided to a CVS by my house to get my prescriptions
filled.By this time it was about 230pm, my throat was on fire and my head felt
like it was going to explode. I tried to call back the other CVS with the
minute clinic to see if they could just issue a credit at my local CVS so it
would cover my prescriptions from my Dr. Tran but the CVS manager left for the day. I paid full price out of my pocket and left.
I then got a call by a CVS Minute Clinic district representative named Karol or something. From the start she was rude and defensive. She told me the nurse practitioner did nothing wrong, took zero responsibility and said I would get a dime back. She just spoke over me the whole time and didnt offer any solutions. She said the nurse practitioner wasnt able to look at any scalp issues and couldnt prescribe any itch liquids or creams like clobetasol for scalp issues. She then told me how amoxicillin is the number one solution for a sinus infection (I prefer a z pak is less pills and a lot less headache). I then asked her why her nurse practitioner didnt know there was a generic z pak. She got defensive and then just repeated herself while talking over me. I then tried to ask her for her name. She told me twice but I couldnt hear because I was driving. I pulled over and then asked her for her name. She flat out refused to give it to me again and then hung up on me.
Real classy for a person that is supposed to be a district manager of CVSs
Minute Clinic. Whatever you do, do not go to CVSs minute clinic when you are sick. They arent knowledgeable, they only can treat very minor issues and they care more about getting a quick $89 dollars out of you. CVS Minute Clinic. It should be renamed CVS Minute Rip Off.
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