Duane Reade

The pharmacy is delaying patient care with consistency and attitude. The front desk person in the pharmacy (Sept 11th, 9: 00 am) is far from competent, does not respond to urgent patient needs, such as providing a toddler with an asthma attack with life saving medication, and asks you to "wait" indefinitely with no other customers around. I had to call the pharmacist and ask to prioritize the prescription. Even then, what you get is a careless delay complemented with a dysfunctional keypad handed to you to enter your phone number for the 5th time while your child is suffering at home. Duane Reade should immediately fire this person and have a serious look at that department before continuing to claim that it's a "pharmacy". Shame.

This pharmacy does not answer the phone when called by patients, or even directly by healthcare providers.it is impossible to get them to help you with your prescriptions.

Just went and they're closed. Supposed to be open 24 hours. They need to update their hours.

Update: I spoke to an employee who said that they'll sometimes close overnight without notice if there's not enough staff. The only way I can think to check is maybe to call ahead (not sure you'll get through though). Anyway, not a great system. They should update their website or have a Twitter account or something, or at least post a notice online that says between certain hours, it's open pending staff availability.and clarify if you can call to verify.

For many years a good pharmacy. Now totally unacceptable - filthy, understaffed, under construction of some sort - huge vents and machinery. Difficult to get a script filled there - always some problem. Will go elsewhere.

I must give a shout-out to one of the cashiers (Robin, I believe) who delivered outstanding customer service yesterday (5/13 at 5: 30 pm). It was very, very, VERY busy yet she was so kind and patient as she assisted an elderly woman to navigate the electronic pay pad, helped a pair of college students pack their snacks, and explained to me how the gift cards work. She seemed to bark as she kept the line moving - but once they got to her register, she still managed to offer each customer exactly what they needed to leave the store with a smile. With many options in the neighborhood and despite some of the negative reviews here, Robin is an asset to the Duane-Reade brand. She deserves to be noticed by the manager. [NOTE: I was not there for Rx and cannot speak to the efficiency of the staff downstairs. ]

Whenever my call rang through to the pharmacy, they would pick it up and put on hold. They did it several times before just hanging up in me.

Please beware of this location. They claim to be 24/7 and they are not. Do not waste your time.

So I really hate being the rude person, but today I guess she wanted to put me through the Mudd. So this is like my 3/4th time coming here! Never seen this clerk before, but the fact she's sees me as an older gentleman, someone who's definitely over 21yrs ole.wanted to press me for my ID. NOT KNOWING she knew I know what she wants was my DOB.gave it to her twice w/o
Attitude. She demands for ID, SO CAUGHT UP IN HER TRYING TO PROVE HER POWER she not paying attention to my transactions that I have cash back. I really seen this sister throwing shades at me for no personal reasons. So so sorry. But this hit hit me a certain way. She was wrong.review the cameras. Totally wrong customer service for anyone.

PS. THE CLERK WITH THE BLONDE EXTENSIONS. LIGHTSKIN, TATTOO, BIG EYES WOMAN.

AT LEAST THE GUY WHO OPEN THE DOOR FOR MY VOODOO RANGER WAS NICE

I would give 0 if possible. The absolute worst most unprofessional pharmacy I have ever witnessed. I have had the absolute displeasure of waiting multiple times for prescriptions here and I have never NEVER once seen someone pick up a prescription without some sort of issue.

Please close down this pharmacy and fire the staff. I cannot understand how it can have these issues with every single person. Absolutely appalling that this is allowed to happen with peoples medications! I would not be surprised if this place has killed people with their incompetence.

If you are looking for a pharmacy go to literally anyplace else. This place is terrible and the people are worse.

Fast, friendly service helps when you're not sure about a product. Great variety of products

Maybe the worst pharmacy in the city and Walgreens/Duane Reade is completely disfunctional. Don’t answer the phone but even worse employees just don’t care at all. While sitting on hold for 10 min waiting for a store employee to pickup the phone I walked over to the store and found the team lead checking her cell phone and watching videos. I one was in line- store was empty on Sat am. I asked if she or anyone at the store would answer her phone and she said no. Pharmacy staff also don’t answer the phone. The Duane Reade staff at 103rd and broadway laugh and say good luck getting anyone at the 111th street store. I only came here because the online system says they have a prescription to come pick up. But pharmacy says that the online system can be ignored even if it says I have a prescription to pick up. I left 10 min later and the team lead was still on her phone not working. Worst post COVID experience ever. And cannot believe a national company cannot have a computer system that knows whether or not a prescription can actually be filled.

I’ve tried their pharmacy a handful of times and it was always a disappointment. One would think that such a big corporate chain can coordinate their pharmacy staff lunch schedule so that there’s always someone helping customers. Instead, the close it from 1: 30 to 2: 00 pm. One of their staff members starts sending customers away and preventing them to stand in line since 1 ish, so they can close on time. They expect that you can easily come back in an hour (in my case, while being sick!). It is a ridiculous system. The staff was helpful and friendly, their system is what sucks.

Store manager was not nice unfortunately, would not let customers in when it’s half an hour from closing. I understand everyone wants to leave on time but the general public is expecting the store to be open as listed. There was no need for yelling and insults.

This used to be a decent pharmacy, conveniently located near Columbia University. It has degenerated into an absolute disaster since 2021. Expect to wait in an line of up to twenty customers (going up the stairs) for a simple prescription, assuming they didn't lose it, forget to fill it, or just plain lie to you about not having received the (electronically traceable) prescription. Their pharmacy times, which used to be 24h, have been cut down drastically. The original pharmacists, seem to have skedaddled as well.

Staffing is disastrously low, with sometimes only a single register open for an incredibly busy store. Clearly, management doesn't care that this place is running into the ground. I would not trust this gaggle to dispense a Coca Cola, much less drugs, to anyone.

This store is also routinely out of even basic OTC medications, which is disgraceful for a store that calls itself a "pharmacy. "

Vote with your wallet and AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

If I could, I would choose zero stars.
Duane Reade Pharmacy on 111 Street and Broadway is the absolute worse pharmacy on the Upper West Side in NYC. The staff is inefficient, they are constantly behind and everyone lacks any knowledge of management, customer service or any service for that matter.

The pharmacy used to be great (open 24 hours), but has gone way downhill. Long lines, long time required to fill prescriptions.

Pharmacy now closes at 6 pm Sat, 5 pm Sun, 8 pm M-F.

Horrible pick up/drop off service. Extremely inefficient, was told to pick up at 12pm came in at 2.30 and they said they didn’t even fill the form or something so need at least another hour.

Staff at the pharmacy is rude and unhelpful. I made an appointment in advance through the web based platform for a Covid vaccine and was told once in store that there was no one there that day to administer vaccines. Apparently, the web based appointment system and the store have nothing to do with one another? I was told to come back the following day for a walk in appointment anytime between 10-4. I arrived at 1: 30pm to find that the pharmacy was closed for a break. At 2 pm I returns to wait for my walk in and after twenty minutes was informed that they were no longer honoring walk in appointments. This store has no regard for your time. Stay away

Terrible, awful pharmacy. If you need a prescription here to save your life, well, better get your will started. Maybe they'll fill it by next week, if they feel like it.

This is definitely the worst pharmacy I have ever been to. The prescriptions are never ready. The employees do not care at all and take forever to do everything. They are remarkably incompetent. The store is disorganized. GO TO THE CVS ACROSS THE STREET!

If I could give zero stars I would. Apparently there are NO vaccines available and yet I saw 5 people get vaccinations. The white old lady that is at the counter is just so disrespectful. It’s disgusting to see people discriminate others in that way. I recommend going somewhere else to get services. They are a disgrace!

I get that chain pharmacies are short-staffed because corporate won’t pay people to work and because collective pretending that Covid is over inevitably means a lot of call-outs.

But you guys need to answer the phone in the pharmacy. Three times in the past month I’ve had a warning in the Walgreens app that there is something wrong with my prescription and I should call the pharmacist to clear it up.

It goes the same way every time: I call and call, and I keep hearing the phone click as though picked up, then back on hold messages again. Twenty, thirty, forty minutes at a time. Then I’ll lose patience and walk over to the pharmacy with the phone to my ear, still waiting for someone to answer, only to get there and find three or four staff members behind the counter, with no customers being helped and no queue to speak of.

You’re dealing with medicine that people need and can’t afford to have messed up. Do you think we’re calling purely to inconvenience you? Or just to have a nice chat? Come on.

You NEED to answer the phones.

It is virtually impossible to call the pharmacy and talk to someone. They kept hanging up after putting me on hold. Every time I go there, the line is long and slow. If you actually need your prescription in a timely manner, don’t go here.

You have the worst pharmacy I've ever been to. You change your pharmacy hours at will with no respect for your customers. It's really a shame. I've been using your pharmacy for years & have to go elsewhere because it happens so
much.

Constantly out of stock - had to get toilet paper from west side market. Very little selection of products to start with - don't waste you time going here

By far the worst “pharmacy” I’ve ever experienced. Constantly short staffed, prescriptions are never on time, and they are constantly out of stock of the most basic items. I can understand supply-chain issues, but it doesn’t excuse the constant ineptitude of its pharmacy - I don’t think I’ve gotten a prescription refilled on time, once. In 3 years. Glad to never use them again.

GET IN LINE AND EXPERIENCE AMERICA'S FOR-PROFIT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN PERSON!

Probably one of the worst Duane Reades I have been to. Always crowded, prescriptions never ready (you might get an email saying they are but they are not).

A huge hassle every time. If I could give it zero stars I would.

Can y'all wait a little longer than 13 seconds after I walk in before standing right behind me? No greeting, no offering to help.just standing right behind me to do what? Tell me, should I have announced myself and have that associate hold my hand so she won't think I'm stealing. I WALKED IN AND NOT ONE WORD FROM ANYBODY. WHY YOU NEED TO STAND BEHIND ME?

I wish I had seen all the terrible reviews for the pharmacy before coming here. My experience with the pharmacists was genuinely the worst I've ever had.

My doctor prescribed a new medication for me after an evening appointment this tuesday. I went to the Duane Reade on 103rd to see that their system is down, so I either had to go to this Duane Reade or the one on 94th. I try to call, but after 20 minutes there's "still at least three people ahead of you". It's almost 8: 30, so I decide to just walk over to this pharmacy. I wait in line for the 20 minutes until there's just a group of two women left finishing their checkout in front of me. All I need to do is ask whether my prescription is in the system or if my doctor needs to resend it. It's now 9: 01pm (close is 9: 00pm), the female pharmacist with dark hair looks at me through the window while on the computer (as she shuts down the system) then storms out and tells me to leave.

Her: "You need to leave. We're closed"
Me: "I've been waiting here. I just need to ask if my prescription is in the system. "
Her: "I can't check that because WE'RE CLOSED. YOU NEED TO LEAVE. "
I'm shocked and try to tell her that I just need to see if my prescription is here since it was sent to the other pharmacy on 103rd
Her: "Their system has been down for 4 WEEKS. " And she proceeds to blame me for not knowing this. Then tells me I need to come back tomorrow.
Me: "Ok, what time do you open? "
She angrily tells that they open at 8am, but I'll have to wait, so I need to come between 8am and 9am. I know I can't do that with my work schedule, so I pause to think for a second. The women in front of me try to help and ask whether the black, male pharmacist who just checked them out could look in the system for me. The female pharmacist starts yelling at HIM for giving them their medications close to closing (BEFORE CLOSING). He just bows his head and apologizes like he's done this a thousand times. She's yelling at him to the point that me and the two women are basically running away at this point to try and defuse the situation. At this point, I feel worse for the pharmacist who has to work with this awful woman since she's clearly terrible to them, too.

I cried in frustration that my planned medication schedule is now messed up and I'm going to need to call my doctor. Then compose myself and call the pharmacy at 94th that's open until 10pm. Once I get through to a pharmacist, they tell me that I'll need to resend the prescription since it's not in the system. 2 minute conversation. Less time than it took to yell at me at 110th.

I understand that pharmacies are short staffed and I'm ok with waiting in long lines or whatever. But this pharmacist was incredibly mean, just because she didn't want to spend 2 minutes looking something up. She would rather spend 10 minutes yelling at me. I can't imagine being this belligerent to clients or any of my coworkers and still having a job.

Summary: Avoid this pharmacy like the plague if you can.

Awful, awful experience. I never write these reviews. But the pharmacy staff was so impatient with me on the phone I immediately moved my prescriptions to another location.

They would not fill my husbands prescription after he had a wisdom tooth extracted because the dentist had forgotten to write the DEA number on the script and it’s a controlled substance. We were able to get the dentist to text us the DEA number but they wouldn’t accept that either because it wasn’t coming from the dentist. So my husband is now in excruciating pain and the pharmacy is closed for the night. Horrible customer service

The place is short of staff.
Most of the staff are helpful, as very few staff members are rude. I do agree, some ladies there can become extremely rude &, disrectful.
The overall, there is nothing we can do but go with the flow.
More training in customer service may help enhance & improve; management should look into training their staff to show more courtesy & Respect to the customers.
The tall black guy there is the most helpful & polite.
I have no complaints.
Still the best pharmacy in town.

This place has some of the most disgusting and disrespectful staff I have met. 1. Need an hour to fill my 2-item prescription; 2. An hour later told me to come tomorrow morning and closing half an hour earlier than usual. (and that scum went straight back to playing games like his life depends on it.well maybe.) 3. Straight away would not take me.

2 and 3 are by a Hispanic man and woman respectively. Avoid them if you can

I try not to lose my temper, but this pharmacy is ridiculous. Wait 20 minutes for my prescription and it wasn't even full.

This location is not as well stocked as others in the chain. Been there many times, be prepared to wait. It's not a quick in and out. They never seem to have enough cashiers to avoid long lines. That said, this store has the basics.

I have tried multiple times, with and without appointments, to get a flu shot here and been turned away by a rude pharmacist after waiting in their omnipresent long lines each time. When I have an appointment there are no shots, when I walk in to try again, why didn't I make an appointment! I recommend going anywhere else.

Shout out to the night staff pharmacists who are too lazy to answer the phones. Good thing you're not handling vital medications that people rely on. Oh wait.

Another corporation doing exactly what we all expect the bare minimum & nothing less and to expect more is a fools dream.
The ceiling in the pharmacy has dirt for at least what looks like a decade and they expect people to come in who are sick to stand in line for 20 minutes for a prescription while breathing in this terrible noxious air in this area. The experience leaves you wishing that your life didn't require you to come to this place it's a deplorable location and I hope other people go to small mom and pop shops and bring back great customer service as a priority

I had an extremely negative experience at this location today. I had come to the pharmacy earlier this week for a walk in flu vaccine, and was told to make an online appointment instead. I did this, and when I arrived for my flu vaccine today, the pharmacy was shuttered and closed up. The pharmacy employee was very rude in telling me that the pharmacy was closed and they could not help me and I had to go elsewhere, despite the fact that I had received no communication about the cancellation or closure and had scheduled my work for the day around traveling to the appointment. Very poor customer service & management, customers should be informed of cancellation ahead of time to account for the fact that people may be taking off employment for an appointment or otherwise.

My doctor called them twice and they still didn’t put in my prescription til he called a third time, and then they said one of my prescriptions was supposed to be ready after the 7th, so I went and then they said they don’t have it and I have to come back later. I was way out of my prescriptions by the time I was finally able to get them here, and I was not able to take them because I was out, which had a severely negative toll on my health. This is a terrible Duane Reade. I wouldn’t trust it for your prescriptions if you actually, y’know, need to take them.

Only if I could give negative stars! This pharmacy never has any of the prescriptions in stock. Pharmacy staff are disorganized. Very rude and disrespectful on phone. Including the manger. Been on hold on phone for over 20 minutes at times. Had one staff member answer the phone after being on hold, than hung the phone up on me. Long wait time to pick up proscriptions. Had one line for those who are picking up or refilling, and getting COVID shot. Staff was goofing around last visit. Never a pleasant experience. At this point gonna find another pharmacy.

ALWAYS incredibly long lines for prescription pickup.severely understaffed at the pharmacy and things move slow, especially at rush times before/after work.now with giving covid vaccines, it’s even worse! There’s just ONE LINE for vaccines AND prescriptions, which is bizarre and wastes everyone’s time

It seems to me that pharmacists here will say whatever it takes to get you to leave them alone, including making up information or blatantly lying. In my experience they were disrespectful and indifferent to each costumer's needs.

The closest Duane Reade as many have closed on the upper Westside and Harlem. The security at this store is terrible and not professional. The store is well maintained, and most items are in stock, even during the early days of covid. They do have a problem with the check out area. Lines can become long and slow at any given moment!

I have always found staff very helpful and courteous, I never use chain pharmacies, most are frustrating and take forever. This place is open 24/7 so I go there as it's close, not crowded, and usually well stocked

The managers are helpful as well as the pharmacists. The rest of the staff are consistently irritable and rude and treat customers as a inconvenience.
I avoid this place whenever possible

I find that the staff is very helpful and the cashier's are usually very pleasant. This rating is for them. The pharmacy however is a totally different story.

Terrible service, unbelievably long lines. Prescriptions takes literally hours to be prepared.

Was a very good pharmacy about a year ago (2019) but sadly this is no longer the case.avoid at al costs; I anded up at 11: 15 pm not picking up my prescription- that was urgent - after waiting first to find out it was not ready and then after two hours for another 45 minutes until i gave up.

Poor customer service
I called them to ask about opened services, and right in the middle of my question the representative said "Hold on" and mutted the call or transfered it idk. That is rude.

Nice pharmacy, great customer care service, the only issue is they don't sell without prescription unlike my other supplier - medicaidsupply (@) gmail.com

In this pharmacy I found the vitamins I need, I like that it is always open although it is a little far away it is worth getting to this pharmacy

Omg. Only giving 1 star because I can’t give it a 0 star. Please don’t choose this location as your pharmacy, it’s going to be the biggest regret of your life.:

I only giving a star so I can write a review. Pharmacies are in general inefficient. This one takes inefficiency to the next level. Having to wait for over an hour for an out of pocket/ ready to pick up prescription is just plain unacceptable. I wouldn't waste my time doing any business with this pharmacy.