Purdy Cost Less Prescriptions

Best pharmacy I’ve ever been to. They have the cheapest prescriptions I’ve encountered, they’re friendly and knowledgable, and the store has almost everything.

I used to take my residents here from Gig Harbor Senior communities. The prices were fair and they knew some of the residents by first name. When I needed insulin for my dog and was near this pharmacy I stopped and asked for Humiin N. They bagged it, I paid and went home. When I took the insulin out I noticed it was Novolin not Humulin. They had switched the brand without informing me. Since it was cheaper I thought, OK. Then I thought I’d better check with my vet who said it was not the same and that there were known severe issues with switching between the two brands. When I returned the insulin and told them I needed Humulin they said they would have to order it.
I feel I should have been informed that what they gave me was not what I asked for and allowed to make an informed decision as to whether I wanted to risk switching brands. The two are NOT the same. This could have been disastrous for my pert.

Best most courteous pharmacy, I have ever been to in my 69 years of life.

I’ve never used the pharmacy at this store but I hear that it’s nice. I hope that’s true — but I’m not going to be finding out any time soon, thanks to the service I received from the drugstore, which was… not so nice. «Bizarre» is more like it (with representatives who seem weirdly obsessed with ensuring their customers don’t smuggle in any small animals).
I don’t even live in Gig Harbor anymore and haven’t since 2001; however, my parents still live there, which is how I ended up here in the first place. Even they don’t stop in to this place very often. But, as luck would have it, I had a small surgical procedure done last month (and spent the night prior to the procedure at my folks’ house so my mom could drive me up to Seattle the next day) and — silly me – I left my «Hibiclens» soap back home in Olympia. My mom said, «No problem, we’ll just pick some more up.» Purdy Cost Less happens to be the closest drugstore to their house, so we stopped there first to see if they had the soap.
Now, my mom had just adopted a tiny, elderly Chihuahua who rode along with us to the drugstore. She happened to be carrying him as we approached the store. However, we both paused when we noticed a sign on the door that said something like NO PETS ALLOWED INSIDE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! My kind mother was going to pay for the soap (I also didn’t have any cash on me; talk about unprepared!) but — since she couldn’t go inside with the dog, and I’d literally just met the little dog, and therefore he didn’t quite trust me – she suggested I go inside to make sure they had the product. Then — if they had it – I could go back out, let her know how much it cost, and she’d give me the money.
That sounded fine to me. (In case you just skimmed the above paragraph, let me repeat the most important part: my mother stayed outside of the store with her dog.)
Sure enough, I found a small bottle of Hibiclens soap inside the store, and it wasn’t too outlandishly priced. A cashier who was «helping» me (even though she seemed to have no idea what I meant when I asked about the product) smiled when I found the bottle, said «Did you find it? Good!», then gave me a look like she expected me to follow her to the front of the store so she could ring me up. (Fair enough.) So I explained, «I’ll be right back… my mom’s outside with the dog, and I just need to get some money from her.»
Well… I guess the cashier misheard me and thought I said that I had to go get the dog from my mother? (You’ll find out why I thought that in a second.) Her response, however, was simply a cheerful, «Okay!» She walked away; I hurried outside the store, got the money from my mom, and hurried back in.
Upon entering the second time, I grabbed the bottle of soap and headed for the checkout line. There was no one else in the «line» so I went right on through, and the cashier — a different woman from the one who’d «helped» me – went through her «Did you find everything you need?» spiel.
I’d barely finished my «Yes» when the cashier eyed my jacket suspiciously. She then asked me (of all things):
«Do you have a small dog in there?»
«Umm…no,» I replied, surprised, glancing down at my jacket to see what might prompt her to ask such a question. Again, this wasn’t even the same cashier whom I’d mentioned my mother’s dog to in passing. Okay, my jacket was zipped all the way up but — we live in Washington state! It was about 7 at night, rainy and cold outside! It’s not like this was tank top season.
I would’ve forgotten about it a second later if the cashier did. However, instead of accepting my honest answer of «No», she asked me AGAIN, «Do you have a small animal in there?» (Just what did she think I had hidden inside my jacket if not a dog — which I didn’t even have one of?) «Because we don’t allow that in here!» she added, continuing to peer at my jacket for… signs of movement? A glimpse of bedraggled fur? A frog to leap out at her? Who knows.
I offered to unzip my jacket to show her that I was indeed the only living thing it covered — and proceeded to do just that. The cashier didn’t bother to respond; she just silently finished ringing up my Hibiclens, and told me to «have a nice day.» She might have given me one last suspicious glance but I can’t say for sure; I was too busy thinking WTF? and wondering if *every* customer gets randomly grilled about smuggling in small animals, or if I was just lucky that day.
All in all, it wasn’t the worst experience in the world — but it was definitely awkward enough to merit a one-​star rating and to prevent me from wanting to return. Really. Other than my mere mention of my mom’s dog to the first cashier, I still can’t figure out why the second cashier felt compelled to A.) accuse me of breaking their «no pets» rule, and B.) continue to push the issue when I told her that I hadn’t?
Go here if you want — just be prepared for rude questions and DON’T BRING FIDO.

My dentist in Gig Harbor, Dr. Michael Flatley, recommended I fill his prescription at the Cost Less Prescriptions store in Purdy, which was a few minutes from my home in Lakebay. What a find this store has become! The Pharmacy delivers top notch customer service at the counter. Whether or not you have insurance, they will not gouge you on prescription prices. This store reminds me why I patronize local stores … and that feeling reminds me of back home on Da Island. It’s nice to have access to truly good services in the most unlikely locations!