Shame on CVS for charging top dollar in your grossly understaffed store (833 Mass Ave). Check out is a nightmare, only one person at register and all the self-check out machines are broken. We waisted an hour today trying to pay for our items & decided to leave with nothing. We went to Walgreens which is well staffed & folks are friendly. Lastly, the phone routing system for the pharmacy is a nightmare to navigate. Avoid CVS. They don't care about their customers nor their employees. Shame on you CVS!!! read more

A racist pharmacist is working at CVS in Arlington City, MA. He asked me to use a machine to enter my personal information, assuming I didn't speak English. Then, I asked him why my medication was not covered by insurance. He didn't give me an explanation--such a terrible experience. read more

Avoid this store. Aisles are all chopped up and it's hard to find what you are looking for. Then you have the unpleasant experience at checkout. ALL self-check out machines don't work properly. They don't take coupons at all, so you have to go wait in line with the one check out person they have working. They have a piece of paper over where you would put in a coupon, but you don't see that until you have already scanned your items in. There should be large signs or maybe they should just get the machines fixed. Going to a different CVS in the future. read more

I have cancer, was undergoing chemo and radiation at the time , needed a refill of my pain meds, and could barely sit up due to the fatigue of treatment. The pharmacist told me it would take an hour; during this time she was filling other prescriptions. After a while, I asked when my prescription would be ready. She snarled at me and said she'd already told me it would take an hour, and that was only half an hour ago. I was so weak that I couldn't sit there for any longer so I went out to my car. As soon as I was a block away from the store, I got an email from CVS saying my prescription was ready. She could have fill my prescription any time. There was no need for her rudeness or lack of compassion. read more

This store is seriously the worst. Long hours and unknowledgeable pharmacist. Staff that is incompetent. My order has been sitting in processing for 24 hours. It's supposed to be ready within hours. I called and the associate assumed I should cancel it and could do it in app. He's wrong-can't cancel in app nor did I want to cancel. I told him I still wanted it and he said he'd pack it. Did he?! Nope! Because on sale and new sales start tomorrow-it's going to cost more to place a new order. Stay away from this cvs! They are awful to deal with!!! read more

One of the worst pharmacies I have ever experienced. If your doctor sends an RX here, it's practically a black hole. It will not show up in their system. It will not show up in the CVS app. You will call and give up after listening to the hold music for 45 minutes. At first I thought this was a one-off fluke. Maybe the staff were just having a bad week. Nope. It's been this way for years. read more

This location has more people working than Belmont and is better, which is not saying much. As it took a week to fill a script, it took longer than mail order pharmacy. read more

It's nearly impossible to reach the pharmacy under the new phone system. The first two times it simply hung up on me.

The store manager who is NOT a pharmacist tried to deny my daughter medication's that could potentially kill her if not taken correctly. All because he has an ego problem. He makes damn near minimum wage and has a napoleon complex. They have horrible business ethics. They should throw away this whole pharmacy. How do you deny a patient their medication? You shouldn't have two drive thru lanes for pharmacy open and then tell a patient to back up (which is illegal) in the drive-through. Simply because they don't want to do their job. If the lane was closed they should have a cone in front. I was directly behind a car they just served. UNACCEPTABLE! They are lazy, unethical, and just downright deplorable. If you were smart, move your medications to a more competent pharmacy. I reported them to the Massachusetts Medical Board as well as CVS customer service. Since he doesn't want to give his name. I will let the commonwealth do their job. Incident # S-8413875 read more

CVS Pharmacy - Petty works here. Petty calls the cops and wastes my taxpayers money because he is a horrible store manager. Petty will be fired - Drugstores Near Me - Arlington, Massachusetts

I don't know what happened to CVS Pharmacy in the past couple of years, but their customer service is incredibly poor! My doctor called in 3 prescriptions to CVS on Monday for same day delivery. There was an extra charge which I paid. By mid-day the scripts had not arrived, so I called CVS. They told me that they had questions about one med and could not deliver it until I answered the question. So, they then tell me this med cannot be delivered so they will put it in the USMail but will still deliver the one that can be delivered. The third med was not available and need to be ordered. So, on Wed I get one med delivered. On Friday I get the other med delivered via USPS. CVS actually billed me twice for expedited delivery. I am now trying to get a credit and to cancel the one med thy needed to order. Will NEVER EVER shop at CVS/Pharmacy again!!! read more

Terrible experience with the pharmacy! Rude staff and you can tell it's a toxic working environment. Should get 0 stars

I phoned in a prescription to CVS Pharmacy located at 833 Mass Ave in Arlington MA using the CVS ap. I was told by the automated system that it would be ready after 8 pm that night which gave them at least 5-6 hours to fill the prescription. When i arrived at 8:45, they said , oh well, it won't be ready till tomorrow- we close in 10 minutes. This CVS z pharmacy often doesn't answer their phone and you have to go in person to get any questions about your medication answered. The last time I went in to complain to a manager about this, she told me that the following month they were laying off more pharmacists so get used to it. Great skills dealing with the public!!! I would not recommend this pharmacy. The CVS store at this location is fine but the pharmacy appears to be greatly understaffed and they don't seem too concerned about their poor performance. read more

This used to be a great cvs and great pharmacy but it has crashed and burned. Just waited 20 min past when they were supposed to be back in the drive thru. Finally came in to find 4 employees but shutter down. Tried to pick up a scrip submitted 5 days ago and they said they needed 5 min because they were still working on it. Seriously thinking of going with another pharmacy now - just don't even trust them anymore read more

For an inefficient shopping experience, shop CVS...any CVS will do! Their coupon process is a a total SH*T SHOW. Tons of unnecessary paper and they give you coupons for items you JUST purchase. HELLO!!!! For any easy, quick, no hassle, great prices experience, I suggest a trip to Walgreens. They know how to keep it simple. read more

CVS Pharmacy - a pile of receipts on a table - Drugstores Near Me - Arlington, Massachusetts

I have spent hours of my life wasted in this pharmacy! i have experienced rudeness by the staff, not opening on time, and unwillingness of the staff to help. I do have to say that Raffi was the one positive experience in years of coming to this CVS. Why do I keep coming back? Good question! Other than the convenience of the location it is the bane of my existence. read more

Slowwwwwww as mollasssssssessss Usually I have to wait 20 to 45 minutes when I pick up a prescription. I have gone at all different hours and no matter what I do the pharmacy is absolutely jammed and way behind. A couple of times they have forgotten one of my prescriptions and I have pointed that out and then they tell me the prescription is not ready. Then I will point out to them that I got a notification from their pharmacy saying that it was. 10 more minutes elapse and they will emerge with said prescription. A few times they've told me my provider didn't call in the RX. My provider stated that they did. Phone calls ensue. Turns out Thwy DO have the RX after all. It's always a hassle at this store. read more

This place is dangerous. They lost my epipen Rx the day my doc sent it in (i mean LOST it lost it. I don't know how!) and then proceeded to lose every. single. one. of the prescriptions they allegedly (but never actually) transferred to the new pharmacy when i got fed up. I had consistent issues leading up to this incident. At this point, take your prescriptions literally anywhere else. Good luck! read more

To the man who opened the store on November 29. Could you be any ruder? You certainly are lacking customer service skills. I went into the store to buy gift cards and he said they just opened and didn't have cash. I had the exact amount. It was his tone of voice and couldn't be bothered! If you don't want to deal with the public I suggest you get a job elsewhere read more

Deplorable attitude by apparent pharmacy manager "Keneka" ("spelled the way it sounds!") at CVS in Arlington who scolded and tongue-lashed through a minor transaction with such a level of disdain I wondered why she hasn't been fired yet. Seeing the dozens of horrifying reviews for this establishment I now understand that her abusive behavior is endemic to this poorly run chain. An explanation but not an excuse. read more

I am increasingly disgusted by the nightmare of getting prescriptions at this CVS pharmacy. The number of errors and the total incompetence and rudeness of several staff at the pharmacy is unbelievable and has been worsening in recent years. The lines are often halfway down the aisle to pick up meds; they often notify by text that meds are ready, only to find out after standing in line, that they are NOT ready. Looking into moving all my family's prescriptions elsewhere. read more

Staff is generally begrudgingly in service to its customers. Multiple other CVS stores in the area demonstrate how helpful and pleasant the staff can be. There must be some leadership issue that creates the negative vibe in this CVS in Arlington Center (833 Mass Av) read more

Where's the zero star button??? The employees here are AWFUL and so inconsiderate, especially the pharmaceutical workers who are the rudest of all. They need an entire new staff. Losing medications that were filled weeks ago? Someone remind the manager to do their job. read more

Disorganized store, staff and parking lot- short staffed and pharmacy is a nightmare. The kiosks are not functional and HS kids hanging around. Find another pharmacy. read more

This pharmacy shouldn't even get one star, but since I'm not able to write a review unless I give it a star then one star it gets. At one time this CVS was great. I transferred from Walgreens to CVS 833 Mass Ave over 20+ years ago. My experience with this RX for the past 3-4 years have been horrible. They gave my husband the wrong medication not once but two times. When he tried to speak with the pharmacist, they were too busy and asked him to come back. WHAT? They're providing the wrong meds, and the RX doesn't want to talk about it. NOPE! Stand your ground - talk about if before you leave then they can't say, "...well you left the pharmacy and there isn't anything they can do about it now..." They text letting you know your script is ready only to find out when you get there, it's still in process. Then why text it's ready? One hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. Horrible service. Scripts are now taking up to 5 days to be processed, when asked why it is taking so long, "...we don't have enough of people..." that was the response. My response, then HIRE more people. The drive-thru another joke. Instead of having greeters and clerks hanging around the self-checkout registers doing nothing and then they get all prissy because you want step up to an actual register, I'm sure one of those front-end clerks can ring up in the RX. When was the last time you walked to the RX and there wasn't already 8+ people ahead of you? YEARS ago! Time to transfer back to Walgreens or better yet, mail order pharmacy. If you don't have to use this RX .. DON'T USE IT ... RUN LIKE FOREST GUMP AWAYS FROM THIS PLACE! read more

This pharmacy sucks never come here. The people are slow and so rude. We switched from Walgreens and went back a week later. I pay $0 for my medication at Walgreens and $35 here? Crazy. read more

I have called this pharmacy 3 times today and sat on hold each time for 20+ minutes and then the phone just hangs up. Its very frustrating especially when i have a simple question about a prescription read more

I have been trying to order our meds for the last week. I am on hold for about an hour. Then they close. Today, I got disconnected as they went to lucnch! What has happened to respecting the customer????? read more

Nana , the manager of the store, and one other employee are the only two employees at this store today. Apparently, wveryone has quit. He remained kind and gracious to merchants. Has a great attitude. No one should have to be in that position. Hope upper management realizes his worth and compensates him for it. read more

Have been coming here for years - I must be a glutton for punishment because it's a RARE occasion when I can pickup my prescription without any errors or delays on their end. Today was the last straw. I desperately need my medication, it keeps me alive, and I always have my doctor call it in a day early so it's ready for me the day of. I went up to the counter and the woman simply shrugs at me: her: sorry, our system is down so we can't process pickups. me: Ok, so what do I do? Can I have my doctor send it somewhere else? her: no, we already filled it here so it can't be filled anywhere else. You'll just have to wait until the systems come back on me: how long will that be? her: no idea Essentially these people were holding my medication hostage. I waited for HOURS in the store because they had no way to update me for when systems were back on line. I get it, mistakes happen, but CVS will often blackout their systems if there's an error in advertising just to save themselves from losing money. I could have gone into diabetic shock just so some billionaire doesn't lose 0.001% of his fortune. read more

This pharmacy has the most incompetent group of technicians I have ever interacted with. Petty, unprofessional and negligent. They address customer service issues by hanging up on customers. I'll never shop at CVS again thanks to the people who work at this location. read more

This is the worst CVS I have ever visited. First, this store forces everyone to use the self-checkout machines. There is never an employee working at the registers. You have to ask one of the people standing around watching the self-checkout machines if you want to pay at a register. then there is a big delay waiting for someone to appear and grudgingly help with your purchase, exchange, refund or whatever Second, the self-checkout machines are always a mess. There are papers an baskets left from previous customers and there are often no bags available. When bags are available they are usually in an awkward location rather than being handy to use for the items purchased. Third, the employees (especially cashiers and people who stand and monitor the self-checkout area are rude and far from helpful. CVS, this store stinks. Get rid of the forced self-checkout and teach your employees a tiny bit about customer service! read more

I went to this CVS yesterday looking for two items: cotton cosmetic pads and q-tips. They were out of both. Why would a CVS not have a basic item like q-tips? Their inventory on basic products was pretty poor. I left there empty-handed. The layout of the store doesn't make sense. It's confusing trying to find anything there. But then when you ask, you may be told that they're out and not expecting an item until the following week! Strange CVS. read more

This pharmacy is extremely poorly staffed and run. They never answer their phone when I call so I have to go to the drop off line to request a refill. I've had prescriptions sent over by my physicians three times in the last month and they don't get filled. Again, I have to go to the drop off window line to request that the prescriptions that were just ordered are filled, then wait for Sometimes an hour for my prescriptions to be filled. Unfortunately, my insurance mandates that I use CVS. read more

Waited on hold for 40 minutes to see if they can fill a prescription they said yes of course we actually have it in stock so we do have it get there and of course the prescription wasn't put in and not in stock! read more

I wish I could rate this place 0 stars! The pharmacy is a joke! I waited in a long line to pick up my dogs trazodone and when I approached a young gentleman he was acting very weird. I stated my dogs name and he kept acting like he wanted me to leave... he told me he couldn't find any name like that... but my vet told me she talked in the phone with a pharmacist there and made a whole account a few days before... so I stepped out of line called my vet and she told me to let her talk to the pharmacist.... Then I proceeded to wait in another long line... once I got up to the same kid he kept giving me attitude .... Still could not spell his name right... I had my vet talk to him and he just walked away! A manger pharmacist came told me to go to another counter where I encountered a very rude woman .... She told me oh they just haven't got to it .... After a few days they never filled his prescription... she told me I had to wait 30 minutes or more.... I just walked out... it's a shame most of the pharmacists there look like they just hate their job... wouldn't recommend at all to go there unless you like being treated like poop. read more

My experience not much better than a lot of reports below mine. Where there's smoke there's fire. The pharmacy manager or shift manager? was a total ass clown. She was stuck up, dismissive and unprofessional. I'm not positive of the name so i won't publish. The thing about it is most of the cheap chains are all similar. Walgreens doesn't seem much better. They are all about maximizing profit and minimizing labor costs. And although the job might be a stepping stone for a young person, most want to get the hell away from the chains. And they hire anyone for management because they are so desperate. Arlington no exception. They might have one head dummy that gets paid more than all the others - most of the techs aren't paid squat- and the MAIN goal of said highly paid person is to get all the others - to produce. And to keep costs down. That's how all the chains work- doesn't matter if they sell drugs or hamburgers. There's a place called Theater Pharmacy that has excellent reviews- probably independent. That's probably the way i'll go in the future.. read more

Worst pharmacy ever. They never answer the phone and are always too busy to answer your questions in person. You practically have to demand to be seen. If you want any help from a pharmacist, be sure to take off a half day from your job/life to spend at CVS. I waited 15 min, talked to a pharmacist who said my prescription would be refilled in 15 min. Then I came back in 20 min, waited again to see the pharmacist and was told my dr. needed to authorize the prescription - which I ALREADY did 3 days prior, after I already visited this hell hole and did the waiting game. THEY ARE AWFUL and no compassion!!! Only place in town that my insurance approves for 90 day coverage or I would be at Walgreens in East Arlington in a flash - If you want compassionate, helpful pharmacists, go there! read more

I felt really humiliated by their rude and judgemental pharmacist who refused to fill up my prescription claiming some non existing "federal law" that limits the amount of pills that they are allowed to make. So instead of the amount that doctor prescribed, she said she'd only be willing to make third of that. I knew it was a bunch of bull crap. So I went to the Walgreen next door and had my prescription filled with no problems whatsoever. Never again I'm ever using CVS's pharmacy nor buying anything from. What they did was not unacceptable, discriminative, and illegal. Pharmacists are not there to judge, they are there to fill up prescriptions for medications. The rest is between you and your doctor! read more

Yes, it's pretty lame to review chain stores like CVS.... and I'm doing it. So this CVS just opened- in fact I went there the night they opened- and I am happy about this. Before, I was confronted with Walgreens as my closest pharm/drugstore, and I just... don't like Walgreens. Maybe it's an arbitrary preference but CVS always seems nicer, cleaner, better laid out (it's easier to find stuff) and the staff always seem friendlier and slightly more helpful. In fact, the two guys who have filled prescriptions for me at the pharmacy are amazingly nice and they even remember who I am and make mildly friendly banter. This has never happened to me at -any- Walgreens so... go figure. Anyway, as weird as it may be to recommend, anyone who lives in Arlington should consider switching to CVS from Walgreens, even if it's further from where you live.... they deserve your money more. read more

Rude cashier wouldn't accept a coupon on a supposed clearance item that was buy one get one 50%. Guess what? If you're only buying one, it's not on sale! Poor customer service - unfriendly reply to non sensical scenario read more