Duane Reade

Awful customer service, just downright rude.
Came here not once, not twice, but THRICE to try to get a prescription filled.

This Duane Reade should just close all of their printing cabilities. No one is trained to operate the Epson printers, no one wants to, or can give you, any answer or reason on why your order is not ready.
They are great people but they do not need to have ANY type of printers there.
I love the convenience, because I live in the area. But point blank they suck when it come to printing.

VERY nice staff. The woman with the gray hair that works at the front is the sweetest lady! I’ve been coming here for 4 yrs and have no complaints except that the prices are higher than the other nearby options. If you want something cheaper, it’s going to mean waiting at Deals in line for 15 min. with some grumpy people and sub par service.
The pharmacy staff have also been really helpful over the years, including the manager.

I use Duane Reade a lot. One of my neighbors actually works here and she is super sweet. The review is for the pharmacist manager, and she is horrible. I mean if one bad experiences is not enough how about twice? The pharmacy manager, TS, should not be working with people. The first time my doctor called in for medication and they messed up my name, she yelled at me because she insisted that she didn’t have anything for me. I called my doctor and the doctor called her right back. They sorted things out. I got yelled by TS again because of her miscommunication with the doctor, and she took it out on me. Just now again, doctor called the pharmacy early afternoon, but the pharmacy said they had no record of that. TS said she has to check her voice mail. It will be 15 minutes… Fine, I will wait. I was sitting and waiting with my husband half an hour, we asked again. The cashier at the pharmacy told us, it was not on the voice mail as well. Really? You couldn’t tell us earlier??? Something else came to my mind –so TS the pharmacy manager doesn’t check her voice mail, so I guess if your doctors have called in, your meds would never be filled and you would be left sick and dying perhaps. She really sucks because she has no sense of urgency and zero professionalism. On top of that she has no people skill and she should not be working with people.
Never use this pharmacy!!!

I love this Duane Reade, it is convenient, so much so that I shop there everyday, several times a day. I much prefer it to pathmark. Pathmark is my last choice, but I do buy some things there. I find the staff at Dr to be very helpful and dedicated. They all seem to know my name. They have even let me borrow the shopping cart to deliver my heavy Dr bags. And if I cannot find an item, somebody will gladly assist me in locating my purchases. I cannot say enough good about Duane Reade Bradhurst ave!

This location has the worst pharmacy I’ve ever seen. They’re lazy, because they take their time doing their job. They’re ignorant because they don’t know what they’re doing. In my case, they were charging the wrong insurance company. They were looking at someone else profile. I waited 2 days to get pain med (ibuprofen) for my tooth implant. Unfair n ridiculous. They did not even take responsibility for their stupidity. I found out by the insurance company, that they were giving them someone else info. They also careless n discourteous. They don’t care about their customers. Don’t go here. Go to a mom or pop drug store. I recommend BellaPlaine pharmacy between 144^st & 143 st. They are very caring n sensitive to your needs. N if you insurance don’t cover, the prices are very reasonable

I feel silly reviewing a Duane Reade, but I want to stick up for the staff behind the counter at the pharmacy. I go in about once a month for a script, and they are always very nice and helpful if you need anything, they are just overworked. It’s not their fault that the pharmacy line is sometimes long, or that the little old lady at the counter doesn’t understand her insurance card and so she’s holding up the line another minute or two while the pharmacist tries to help her. Those are systemic issues in your community relating to healthcare provision and income distribution. There aren’t 9 other Duane Reades, and CVSs, and RiteAids in walking distance to dilute demand at this pharmacy. And many of the people in walking distance of this pharmacy have complicated socioeconomic and health situations. I’ve never seen the pharmacy staff being sluggish about their work or rude. There’s a difference between being bad at your job and not having enough resources to always work at maximum speed.
The front register people are always friendly too, and they usually recognize and talk to neighborhood locals.
The prices on most things are insane, but there are good deals sometimes so it’s worth a browse. Price-​wise you’re probably better off at Deals or Pathmark a block away for most things.

The staff has a few very nice women. They recognized me after only a couple visits, and now know my name. That’s a great feeling.
It’s a very convenient location and overall a nice store/​pharmacy.

This review is for the workers only. Except for a few employees, most of them aren’t doing much. They have some older cashiers who seem to hate their lives and are forced to say «be well» at the end of your transaction.

This place isn’t bad, but it does tend to be expensive. It doesn’t really make sense to buy too many personal products here when there are other places like pathmark, deals and the internet at your disposal (all cheaper) but occasionally I do. There always tends to be a line that moves slowly here but it generally appears clean by the look if things.
When I checked in here, I was picking up some photos. The online website is easy to use (just drag and drop or upload photos to an album). You can crop and resize items before you finalize your order (I would go through every item closely-​one of my pictures was in the wrong orientation). The photos are ready pretty quickly and as compared to the rite aid I use in Washington heights normally for this-​it was a lot more organized.
Paying for my photos when I got there took longer than expected due to the cashier doing something for a coworker (still not sure what that was about) but they eventually stopped whatever it was so he could help me. He was very polite. After I left, I realized that my 5×7 pictures were not with the rest of my 4×6 photos so I had to go back (whomp). They found them pretty quickly and thank god I was still in the area when I noticed but that could have been a great inconvenience if I had of already left Harlem.
I don’t go here often but it’s convenient for certain things.

Today was one of those rainy days where I just didn’t feel like standing in a Pathmark line that is nothing less than chaotic and lengthy. I thought that for two basic items I could just go to Duane Reade for an in and out experience. I found my items with ease and was next on line. In front of me was an older customer arguing that even though his expired license picture was different than what he looked like in person he should be allowed to purchase alcohol. Of course the manager was called who was incapable of making a decision. So I wait patiently. Now, the preoccupied cashier asks an employee by the name of «Michael» to open up the next register to assist me as he was completely idle. Michael looked at me and then started fidgeting with the register. To my surprise two other employees joined him to talk about non-​work related matters laughing without a care in the world. Michael then runs to his bag across the store for his phone to begin texting! I am still waiting on the line.
Finally an older cashier pities me and proceeds to ring me up and asks me how I am doing today. I explain that I am unhappy with the service at the store. Michael was told to assist me and willfully chose to carry on with his shenanigans. She personally apologized twice but all I could do was continue to watch Michael yuck it up texting.
Duane Reade needs to really vet their staff and ensure they have proper customer service training. I will avoid this Duane Reade like the plague in the future.

Of course this place is expensive as a mudda fugga, but compared to Pathmark a block away it makes this particular Duane Reade a dream come true. Things are easy to find, lines are typically short, and as a whole the place functions. The employees seem like they don’t enjoy working here, but I wouldn’t enjoy working here either. So I don’t blame them for their aloof personalities. At least they help me find things when I ask where they are (unlike Pathmark where no one knows where a god damn thing is).
And on one magical day I found a heater fan here for $ 20. Yeah, that’s right. You can’t beat that. Everything is expensive but there’s still some good deals here once in a while.

Thank you Duane Reade for existing on the corner of my block… when I don’t want to be bothered with the ratchetness Pathmark offers, I turn to you for my every day needs.
win!

I come to DR if I need a couple things and absolutely do not want to stand in line at Pathmark just one block away.
This place is EXPENSIVE… $ 19.99 for a twelve pack of Bud or Corona vs. $ 13.99 at Pathmark, need I say more?
They more than obviously have a few scams going on. One thing that they do is overprice a national brand so that you buy the DR brand right next to it. In some cases, they won’t even have the trusted national brand and they only sell the DR brand. Case in point, hand sanitizer. What drug store in their right mind doesn’t have Purell? DR. But they will sell you the DR brand, which is right up by the cash register, and always somehow on sale. If something is Always on sale, that’s it’s regular price.
This store recently expanded their food section, they have now reached «Bodega» status. You can get your trans fats, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and your drugs to ease the pain from a lifetime of eating bad foods all in one stop.
The things I do like about this store? The people are really nice and helpful. It’s neat, clean, well lit, and a quick in and out if you want to pay the prices.
The deals, and the only thing that makes me walk through that door are: mostly the generic items. 8 rolls of paper towels, $ 5. 12 double rolls of TP, $ 5. Other things are eggs, $ 2.49, and chocolate. That’s about it. Sometimes they do have a good deal on razors, then I stock up, but for the most part, it just costs too much.
And as for the DR card? You pay well over $ 100 in excessive pricing to get that $ 5 bonus every couple of months. Just not worth it.

Okay, yes… this place does suck.
Good luck if you use the pharmacy because they usually don’t carry «rare» prescriptions so they have to order them… and even when they have stuff in stock, there seem to be a lot of issues with insurance and getting scripts filled in a timely manner…
That being said, I do visit this pharmacy regularly for my prescriptions, about 1 – 2 times a week.
While I have had a couple of issues, there are a couple of very nice pharmacists there who have stayed after the pharmacy is closed to help me.
Now that I am a regular, they are very honest about when my medicines aren’t available. There are still a couple of cashiers and people that work in there that are very rude and unprofessional… but I tend to tune them out. It’s tough enough being sick and having to pay tons of money for prescriptions… so I just try to make going to this Duane Reade as painless as possible.

Never had to use the pharmacy here, and by the looks of other reviews, it’s probably for the best.
Three stars for the sheer convenience in proximity to my apartment and for the varied selection of just about anything you could need in a moment’s notice.
Minus 1 star for the ever-​so-​known ridiculously jacked-​up DR prices.
Minus 1 star for their hours. They always seem to close so damn early! What’s the point of the only store like this in the neighborhood if it’s never open?!

I’ve always had perfect experiences here, even at the pharmacy, but my wife has had some nightmare tales at the pharmacy, so my four-​star review will drop to three. Wonder what’s going on here. Just get some professionals behind the counter!

I tossed around giving them 1 star but wanted to be fair. If you buy things from the store itself, thumbs up. The pharmacy is another story altogether.
I’ve used them for a couple of years and only had the occasional problem where they claimed my prescription was ready but I had to WAIT when I went to pick it up. One other thing I noticed that if I asked them to contact my doctor when I needed refills (using their site) — they NEVER did it.
A few weeks ago was the turning point where I have now decided to go somewhere else. They had called me to leave a message saying that I had a pickup. I thought I had 2 but when I got there, they only gave me 1. I asked the clerk to check on the other one, but she was too put out to do any extensive research to see where it was. After schlepping all the way home and logging onto their site, I saw they had filled 2 things for me. I let a few hours pass (as I had other things to do) and when I went back… they couldn’t find the 2^nd prescription! I wait for them to re-​do it. Then they tried to give me the same prescription that I had picked up already. I tell them it was the wrong one and had to wait for them to fill the correct one.
I will go out of my way to find a better pharmacy that doesn’t mind doing their job more efficiently.

This is by far the worst pharmacy I have been to in my entire life. Aside from being extremely rude and careless, they have either:
A– LOST my prescription
B-«Forgot» to fill it and did not call or try to contact me in the 3 days I left it there
C-​LIE to me about trying to call me regarding my prescription
I too have left here in such frustration I was almost crying. They do not even say hello, rather roll their eyes when you approach the counter. How can a chain like this have such POOR service and TERRIBLE customer service!!!
I have boycotted this location altogether and will be taking all my future prescriptions to CVS, even if it is a longer commute.

I’m only giving this store one star because Unilocal won’t let me give none.
If you’re only shopping for groceries, you’ll probably have a 2 – 3 star experience. It’s a pretty standard Duane Reade, meaning they have almost everything you’d expect and the salespeople seem really unhappy and borderline rude.
If you’re filling a prescription, however, be prepared for one of the worst experiences of your life. They have made me cry. I’m not kidding; I don’t cry at anything, and they have made me so frustrated there were tears. The pharmacists — especially the pharmacists, more than the normal salespeople — are amongst the rudest people I’ve ever met. Things they’ve done to me include: making me wait for a prescription that they said would just be a minute, only to yell at me 20 minutes later for waiting because they never had it in the first place; telling me that the drug that I needed would be in on Monday, then I find out on Tuesday that they never even ordered it; YELLING at me, often, when I ask questions. My «favorite» is the time that they only had like 10 pills left of what I needed (a full month is 60) so they filled it anyway and reported it to my insurance company as filled. I had to pay out of pocket for the rest of the month and get a new prescription. They had some excuse for why it wasn’t their fault, but come on. Another time they said that I needed to call my insurance company for verification because they were too busy and it was MY drug, after all. So I had to stand at the counter with their phone while they chatted about their day.
I could go on, but I’ve found it just easier to go to the Rite Aid on Broadway and to forget about these terrible people.