Duane Reade

Do not use this pharmacy. The ordeal I just went through is ridiculous.
I was told when I transferred my prescription from a CVS it wouldn’t be a problem and I would keep my refills because it was still in NY state. I got to the pharmacy to pick it up and they said no it’s nys law that they can only transfer one and then they need doctor permission and they called the doctor and she didn’t want to add refills. If this is true I should have been told in the first place and I should have been called to be notified of the problem. Then I told them I should have a whole years worth of refills and they told me to call cvs and find out if I had any left which I knew I did. After I called and confirmed I had refills they said ok wait 20 minutes and we’ll fill it. I waited. I went back to them 20 minutes later and they say they sent it to another pharmacy because they didn’t have it. Meanwhile they never called me to tell they couldn’t fill it or told me while I was waiting in the store they didn’t have it. After arriving at the other store the pharmacists were still working on it.

The layout of this store is extremely oblong which makes it difficult to read the labels at the top of the aisles. They have great deals and a decent staff to make up for this downfall, but with so many other DR, This one is lower on the list.

This is a good pharmacy/​drugstore, the location is awesome. I have found the pharmacists to be helpful and knowledgable. There is a nice variety of over the counter medications, health/​beauty products, reading material, cards, gifts and snacks. I wish the rewards card saved money on everyday purchases instead of just accumulating points. Some items are a bit expensive but there is a great variety of products.

Worst customer service experience I have possibly ever received. Angry, sullen young female who was stocking shelves used her entire leg/​foot to point in front of my face (I was crouched down) to show me where travel size conditioner was. Then, at checkout, same angry, sullen young woman decided not to wait for me to exchange regular bandaids for latex-​free bandaids (I have allergies). I told her to simply deduct the bandaids and I didn’t bother getting latex free ones even though my toes were literally bleeding from blisters. I’ve dealt with a lot of poor customer service, especially from angry, sullen young women in NYC, but this girl deserves to be fired. She hates her job anyways and there are lots of people who need jobs. Oh yeah, this was on 05÷09÷13 at 8:27 PM Duane Reade, so you can check the schedule if you care at all about customer service.

This is the WORST Duane Reade in Manhattan!!!
I’ve been a long time Duane Reade Customer Member for almost 20 years,
I’ve been to many different locations,
and this is the WORST one for sure!
Terrible Customer Service, there is a few workers, who doesn’t know anything about store, products. VERY DISRESPECTFUL AND TOTALLY DISGUSTING! I wonder when this location will closed?
DO NOT RECOMMEND TO ANYONE! TRY THE OTHER LOCATION on 111^th STREET AND BROADWAY, THEIR EMPLOYEES AND PHARMACISTS ARE EXCELLENT!!!

I’ve been holding off on this review until I knew things were OK, but the other day I came here for a prescription and it got lost.
The pharmacist eventually found my antibiotics and apologized profusely for making me wait, but each time I told her it was no big deal. Then she asked me what was going on, and I reluctantly said I had to get a biopsy the next day (gulp).
I didn’t really feel like discussing this with the entire store, so she pulled me off to the side and asked me if I was scared — my sunken face probably gave it away.
This lady then came out from behind the desk and gave me a HUGE bear hug. She told me she’d had a biopsy, too, and it was going to be OK. She said her name was Rubina (Ruby for short), gave me her cell number and told me I could call her anytime if I wanted to talk.
Ruby was so caring and warm, it was like my Mom was still there. She hugged me again before I left and told me she’d be thinking of me the next day. She said there’s always someone watching out for you.
Happy and quite relieved to report my biopsy came back completely negative/​benign, and I’m totally fine (ie back in biz). Hopefully I won’t have to deal with that again, but thanks to Ruby it was a bit easier than expected.
Acts of random kindness: You just don’t expect total strangers to reach out like that, but it came at exactly the right time, when I needed it most.

I write this review as a simple warning to any and all who may listen:
I got food poisoned from Duane Reade’s bagged pistachios. Not pleasant. This location isn’t normally so terrible for a Duane Reade…
However…
Do. Not. Buy. The. Pistachios.*
1. At first, you’ll enjoy eating them, savoring their saltiness and disposing the shells in a sanitary manner.
2. Then, you’ll experience them a second time as they are evacuated from your system out of both emergency exits. This time, however, they will no longer be salty. Nor will they be sanitary.
3. Here, you will get a fever of 103 degrees. You will have time to check your fever as you will be laying in the fetal position on the floor of your bathroom, right where that drawer is that you forgot about. That’s where you stashed the thermometer. Trust me.
4. The best way to conquer stage four is to have a bathtub right next to your toilet or a bucket handy. Keep a moist towel around your forehead as it will keep you from passing out. Pray.
5. The final stage is the cold-​sweat/​fever-​dream stage. Personally, I dreamed of going to a military summer camp where my roommate was preparing sausages out of human meat. I also had a whiny girlfriend in the dream, which was even more agitating. Why can’t I have a mute-​hottie-​sex-​slave dream just once?
My recovery took 4 days after the initial day of woe. I lost a lot of time and work and money.
Frankly, until Duane Reade apologizes for this debacle, I’m going to keep telling people to avoid their name-​brand goods. And until I know this is isolated (which I doubt) I’m going to keep the rest of these nuts sealed just in case: if I can’t use them as proof of some kind, I can at least use them to poison my enemies.
If their bagged nuts can’t be trusted, I’d avoid all of their perishables just to be safe.
*I have a bad feeling about their other store-​brand products — any of those white bags/​containers with a minimal bar-​code NYC design, subway, or «de LISH» marked on them. There was a salmonella scare with pistachios about 10 months ago which could mean that they are selling old goods (bad news for all products involved) or that their packaging methods are so unsanitary that these nuts came into contact with a poisoning bacteria. The latter is actually the scariest offense as that means that ANYTHING could be conceivably contaminated at ANY store. See where this is going? Keep your eyes and ears open for other cases like this — just in case.