This pharmacy has been inconsistent with refills, and refill reminders, and often has contacted my MD for refills of PRN meds without my request for refills. I called to refill a med a week ago and was told it was too soon. When I ran totally out of pills and called to figure out when I could refill them, I was told I could have gotten my refill 3 weeks earlier. read more

The pharmacy here is seriously the WORST. Today is the second time I've come here and wasted my time. A month ago I called in a prescription a few hours earlier, went to pick it up only for them to tell me it's not in stock. Why would you not tell me over the phone? Then, today I called around lunch time for my prescription and they said it'd be ready in a few hours. I get there, stand on line and when I get to the front they tell me there's no prescription. So I continue to wait for them to tell me it didn't go through my insurance....AGAIN, why would you not say this over the phone? Awful customer service. Learn something people...don't waste your time. read more

Bad customer service. Got a text from the pharmacy requesting an update to my insurance. It recommend visiting their site or calling to make the adjustment. I call- am on hold for 30 minutes.... I call the main store line to see if anyone is there.. the clerk notes that they have a lot of calls on hold and they will get to them as soon as they can, swiftly cuts me off, and transfers me to the pharmacy (I didn't ask to be transferred and wI'm already on hold with on the other line). Finally someone answers just to say they don't take insurance info over the phone... As a person who works in customer service here's what I would recommend- answer the phone if someone is on hold for 20 minutes (at the most) & see what they want! You could probably take care of a lot of those calls with a quick response!! You may have a long line but good customer service is about being able to balance in person customers and customers on the phone. And I'm sure ONE of the customers in line wouldn't mind if you snuck away for a second to answer the phone... & If their request requires more time than u have at the moment- write their number down and call them back! read more

Terrible pharmacy. I go there to fill my prescription every month and every time they make me wait an hour even if I planned to have it filled before I came. Rude and slow pharmacists, always a line. I was even given someone else's prescription one time. I had to go back to the store to have it sorted out. The store itself has gone downhill in the past few years, as well. I only go there because it's very close to my house. read more

Great service! They are always very helpful and will find items for me ever time I ask. Store is always very clean and everyone is very friendly. read more

Horrible customer service! While at this CVS, my little boy had to got to the bathroom really bad. He was bouncing saying he couldn't wait. I asked the young male clerk where the bathroom was. He said sorry, we don't have a bathroom. I said then where do you go to the bathroom, he said here. Then, I said can my son please use it...it is an emergency...he is just a young boy. He answered, come on...would you let me use your bathroom? I said yes...if it were an emergency. He said no again. So we had to rush out and I said thank goodness for YELP as I walked out. And thank goodness Smart & Final graciously let my son use their restroom. What a difference! read more

BEST CVS in Santa Barbara!! Daniel and Jorge are the greatest employees CVS ever hired!

Kimberly in cosmetics and Aaron (or Stuart?) cashier with glasses and shirt Clark Kent / Superman black short hair were SUPER DUPER nice and helpful!!! And so patient!!! read more

They have everything so that's a plus. The people are not helpful, the lines are too slow, and so I stopped going there. I don't usually review such big companies but maybe someone will read it. read more

Went to return some items " CELESTE " made it so difficult to return them l gave my license but " CELESTE " made my husband come get me even when he told her baby was sleeping in my lap so l walked in she didn't make any eye contact with me , no greetings, nothing... All l got was her rudeness and she had this really bad attitude and was angry with us !!!! I have never witnessed such bad customer service ever ! I am so appalled by this type of employee that CVS hired and that they are not looking into her customer service and how she is with customers! CVS needs to educate her on some professionalism classes and Angry management skills soon or else they could have serious problems read more

Out of literally everything I wanted, had to buy a $8 finger nail Clipper because no stock. When I pointed out to the cashier she acted like she didn't care and hurry up and pay so I can get the nextpissed off customer. Helped by joanna read more

The pharmacy seems disorganized. The rest of the store I like. Staff is very nice! It is near my home so I go there. Pharmacy service is very slow. If you can drive elsewhere for pharmacy you might want to. **update** Pharmacy texting service and auto refill has been improving. The last few months my prescriptions are refilled on time and the text comes to my phone like clockwork. Often long wait in line when I go to pick up. Due to the improvement in auto refill I moved this up to three stars. Also the staff in the store are always helpful. read more

Bad costumer service. I've been going to this cvs sense I was little sense I was born and raised in Sb. went in to buy some stuff, and on display had items all over you didn't know what costed what. I went to buy a charger that was labeled $4 and she told me it was in the wrong spot. She went with me to the display pulled out a charger from the same spot and it was the same charger. She just told me they where placed wrong. I grabbed another in front of her and turns out that one was also "misplaced". I asked her why they labeled their things a different price than what it is, and all she said was "because of costumers like you that put them all over the place." That's rude. Was not expecting anything in return, just accountability from the store and I couldn't even get that. Very disappointed in the way she treated her costumers and talked to them. I work costumer service and just know that would not be tolerable. So sad I see this store as unprofessional now. read more

This was a real quick super stop, store did look a bit disorganized as I walk by holiday section, I even picked up a bag of candy that was on the floor as I made my way in. I went straight to pian/aspiren section, looked for my lovely migraine excedrin ( yes, this does the trick). Another observation the shelf seemed kind of empty, everybody had headaches that day, or they just were low in stock? So grab my bottle of pills. Went to line up, and honestly the one line for all registers is a bit confusing as it's not really clear, and actually confusing. When it was my turn I approached the register, gave my phone number for credits/discount have her a 20, and she rubbed rhru the machine to verify it wasn't fake, ok I've never anyone check a 20, a 50 dollar bill maybe, but a 20. Honestly that's a bit ridiculous. I mean if I was going to counterfeit money why would so much time and effort for a 20? So since she did this I peeked at my side and next to me a customer handed a 20 and cashier did not verified it on her machine, so I'm . wondering are they being racist as I had my 20 checked but not the other customer? Well, now I'm thinking I might start shopping at this new target, that is only half a block away. Been a cvs customer for a long time, but this last stop here left me a bit weird. Sorry no pictures as I had a migraine when all this took place. read more

Frequently shop at this particular CVS pharmacy. Huge improvement in the store, noticeable in the fact that I can find the items I'm looking for. Staff is friendly and helpful. read more

Super friendly staff today helped me in pharmacy and up front with several issues and handled a return well and were kind to me. I loved their sale section and they are all stocked up for Halloween! Decent store layout and remodel a while back made it nice. read more

SHAME ON CVS! I purchased a rubber shower hose yesterday that didn't fit my faucet. When I went to return it today they refused the return. The plastic molded package had been opened carefully and closed with tape back to almost original appearance. It seems that CVS STORE MANAGERS have discretion whether to accept a return or not. It impacts their performance. When I complained they pointed to a printed sheet with very small print as their announcement for their new policy. What a shoddy way to treat customers! This is my second bad experience with this store inside a week involving a refund. CVS MANAGEMENT have adopted a draconian approach to customer care. They have lost me as a customer for good. They are ripping off the public without recourse! read more

I have been shopping at this CVS for over 7 years now and have never had an issue until this year, when I was told that they just recently changed their return policy and only certain items were returnable- huh? Apparently, As Seen On TV products, soap, anything that comes in a package is NOT returnable and this went into affect on 1/1/2018. I was instructed to contact the manufacturer. ? I was surprised by this as there was no notice of this change hung on the doors or near the As Seen On TV products? I told the "shift" manager that I bought the products in 2017 so I should be able to return the items since the policy changed after I purchased them. She said "well it has always been part of our policy and now they are just enforcing it." I asked her if all the CVS stores were enforcing this policy and she said " if other stores want to take the hit they can but our store does not want to." I let her know that CVS just shot themselves in the foot because their is nothing special about their stores and now that they are harassing their customers about returning $22 worth of products their loyal customers will leave and never return. Which is what I did! I had a few items to purchase so I left the store and walked over to Smart and Final where they have better prices. I agree with the person that said it seems like the store is closing because that's what stores do right before the go bankrupt. If u have stock in CVS -sell sell sell. It's almost over for them! read more

Only write reviews when I have an extremely good experience or an extremely awful one. Today around 10:30 am, I went into this CVS with a twin pack of vitamins that I needed to return. I approached the lady working the cashier (40s or 50's, Latina, dark brown hair in pony tail) and explained to her that I needed to return the vitamins. I then explained to her that I forgot the receipt at home BUT I had the card I paid for it with as well as a "5 dollar extra care" coupon with my account information on it. Before I was done explaining to her that I needed to return my item, she cut me off and said "nope can't do that" and I said "really?" Again and even more rudely she said "nope." I was annoyed at how rude her response was BUT THEN, as I was walking out of the store, she stopped me and said "are you sure you walked in with those?" And I said "excuse me?" (Mind you, SHE IS THE ONE WHO RUNG ME UP YESTERDAY FOR THE VITAMINS" and she said "did you walk in with those..." and I shook my head and walked out. She was accusing me of STEALING. After being extremely rude to me when I asked if I could return my item. I walked out and had to hold myself back from going in and saying some berry unkind words to her. How DARE she accuse me of stealing. I will not be going back to this cvs. read more

I have never felt more embarrassed or disrespected more in my entire 30 years of living. I never ever yelp places even if it's not a great experience because sometimes people just have off days, however, the assistant manager actually had me in tears over a $20 DOLLAR RETURN. First off I'd like to say I was embarrassed enough having to return toilet paper, mascara and a notebook. I'm having extreme financial issues currently and needed gas badly. I'm a loyal customer if you look up my customer care number you would see the thousands of dollars I've spent there. I rarely return anything so I didn't know the protocol to returning. I walked in, walked over to get a cheaper mascara and got a soda. Then went to do it all at once, return the items I bought 3 days prior and buy the new things I just grabbed. He said he wouldn't do it because I should know to check my bag in and yada yada (wtf?!?) I never return I don't know the protocol. He accuses me of stealing the items I just purchased and instead of giving me my cash gives me a gift card that I never asked for!!!! I wasn't going to buy the new items w cash I was going to use my extra bucks. OVER 20 DOLLARS. Then told me he can do whatever he wants cause he's the asst manager, I asked the managers name and he told me to go read it on the front door. I literally left in tears as he was the most disrespectful human I have ever dealt with in customer service. EVER. How he is the asst. manager is beyond me it's pathetic he would make me feel so bad and accuse me of theft without even watching me?!?? Just said I COULD have. Like I am blown away and I now have no gas. Robert is a pathetic employee and I thought he was going to punch me, he yelled in my face and I literally felt scared. Again, over a $20 return of ITEMS I PURCHASED THAT I HAD A RIGHT TO RETURN. Just beyond blown away.... read more

This place is terrible. The pharmacy staff (not the people who ring you up but the others) are always rude and never helpful. They frequently mischarge people and don't run insurance properly. Avoid if you can! read more

I've been to every CVS in Santa Barbara and Goleta and the pharmacy staff at the Five Points CVS is far and away the fastest and most friendly and helpful staff. The CVS website isn't very good but every time I've called this store or gone in person to fix an issue I couldn't fix online they've always fixed my problems painlessly and quickly. read more

What a hot mess of a pharmacy. I haven't had any rude encounters with staff there myself, but they just don't provide even near the kind of service I've seen at other locations. No matter how long of time you give them, even if the prescription was called in days in advance, there is a good possibility that after waiting in line they will say "It looks like they are working on this at the moment, it will be ready in 15 minutes". Every. Single. Time. I don't think I've ever picked up a ready prescription before. Once I came and saw the 3 different customers in front of me get told that exact same thing. I don't know what the issue is at this CVS, but they NEVER have anything ready. Do yourself a favor and call in your prescription at another CVS location or pharmacy! read more

If you have a prescription to fill, go somewhere else. This place is not organized at all. I called several times to check on the status of my prescription and the guy hang up on me. I came in the store to check and they said it wasn't ready yet. I proceeded to ask why they would hang up on customers, the person simply said that "they were too busy". They deserve a zero star rating. read more

The pharmacy in incompetent and inefficient. There was one girl that was nice, everyone else in pharmacy was RUDE. The store is ok but they can not seem to order properly, which makes my trip useless and irritating. read more

The absolutely worst pharmacy I have ever been to. I had a radical ear surgery, when I went in to fill the ear drops and pain meds,they practically accused me of having a fake prescription. I had to wait, in pain all night, until the next day so they could call my doctor and check it out. After they found out it was correct,they filled it once and would not honor the refill. Very rude people there. read more

Called CVS to see if they price match other stores. They said yes. Great I thought. Went to the downtown location as I was close by. They only had one left of what I wanted. I then drove to this location, and tried to purchase the 3 they had on hand. I was told they didn't honor what they had told me on the telephone, nor did they want to look at the proof of my reciept from the other store that they price match! Here you try to support businesses in town vs internet shopping and this is what you get. No wonder people shop on the internet. Good luck CVS if you continue misleading people and not honoring what you inform customers of! read more

My go-to pharmacy and one-stop-shop in town. I've always found the manager and attendants to try to be as attentive and quick in their services as possible. read more

Last month, this CVS told me I ran out of refills on my prescription. I finally was able to get a new script yesterday and dropped of the new script at a different CVS, where they proceeded to let me know I still had on refill on my old script after this CVS told me otherwise. How hard is it to read a screen correctly with decent customer service?! read more

don't complain. just shop elsewhere. simple. http://www.yellowpages.com/santa-barbara-ca/drug-stores read more

Worst customer service. The manager does not know their return policy. Really just waisted my time and patience.

Very long lines and surly workers in the pharmacy. Will never return to this location.

I like the location and size of this store. And the staff are okay. But the shelves are always out of stock. I've lived in 5 different cities before moving here and I've never experienced a stock issue like the empty shelves at this CVS and the one down the street near De La Vina. I have to visit both stores whenever I shop CVS and I still only end up with 80% of what I want. Today I went for Halloween candy and the shelves were half-empty and they didn't have what I wanted. How can this happen on Oct 11! They were also out of 9v batteries; thus is basic stock for CVS. read more

Like many others here, I'd give this location zero stars if I could. I am a frequent customer of the Alamar CVS, but just so happened to be in the neighborhood and thought, "Hey, why not just shop here this time." Big mistake. I presented the cashier with a straightforward CVS mailer coupon and she went into a tailspin. She got flustered and actually annoyed at me because it wasn't registering in the system. She then said that,"Her job was bad for her health." Wow. Okay, sorry about that, but can I please get my 30% off? At the end of the transaction, I got my 30% off but then was double charged for another item I bought. I had to go back to get credited, and that sent the next cashier into a tailspin. CVS - you send out so many coupons and yet your cashiers are ill-equipped to process them. Is this a ploy so that people end up giving up on your discounts? read more

Not very surprising to me about what people have to say about the 'pharmacy'. I can only hope they read these and make a change. I was going to send this as a letter but.....Dear CVS, I have been legally filling prescriptions for Hydrocodone and Oxycodone for my severe chronic pain at the CVS in Five Points in Santa Barbara California for many years. Additionally and not a narcotic drug, I also regularly get a prescription filled of Gabapentin. The phone rings off the hook reminding that my prescription needs to be refilled right away. It is rarely a problem to come in and pick up the prescription even though the lines are long and painfully slow. As for the other drugs, I have to physically bring in a prescription every month which means I have to see my doctor at the pain clinic and then wait on my bad hip in a long line at CVS to submit it. Every month. Once I do that, I must return later in wait in another long to pick it up. Each time it seems it is way more of an ordeal that it ought to be. The last people you want to be waiting in line are the disabled people who really can't stand for long if at all and are in constant pain. There aren't even chairs to sit and wait on. Often, after waiting a long line, I find out that the hour I waited to pick up the prescription was not long enough and the prescription was not yet ready. I would like to ask you if there is a way that you could expedite the method myself and many others use to pick up prescriptions? I have legally submitted my prescriptions for years and there is no question that things are on the up and up. I realize that triplicate prescriptions or whatever format they use to designate opiate drugs are a huge problem with abuse here in the United States or for that matter the world. However, with a little work on your part it seems to me that a method could be developed to easily pick up opiate prescriptions for certain customers that have been checked and documented. Trust me by doing this, you will corner the market on prescriptions because of the ease with which difficult to fill prescriptions are made easy through your company. So in closing, are you really interested in making things easier for customers and therefore gaining many more? I'm sure you know that getting more customers to walk through your front door is one of the keys to a successful business. If you can develop a quick and simple way to fill prescriptions for people, opiate or not, you may have to put a revolving door from your stores. How about it? read more

I wish it were possible to give zero stars. This review is for the pharmacy. I've never had any trouble anywhere else in the store. One day in late December or early January, after going to urgent care with the flu, I went in to get my prescription at this CVS and waited in line for approximately 15 minutes. I got to the front of the line and the gentleman told me that my prescription wasn't ready yet. No big deal. I sat in the chairs nearby and waited. He called my name and I arrived at the window. (side-note: it is common practice at every pharmacy I've ever been to that if you wait in line once and your prescription isn't filled, once it's finished and they call your name, you don't have to wait in line again. You are allowed to go to the front of the line since you've already waited in that line once.) Anyway, there was only one prescription and I had requested that two be filled. I was sent back to the drop off window where I had to confirm what I had already confirmed at the other counter - that I needed the second prescription. While waiting to make this confirmation, the girl behind the counter ignored me and chatted casually with her coworker, a much older lady, who was still on her lunch (she said). They had a nice leisurely conversation and when the girl turned back and saw me the expression and attitude expressed was like I was a huge inconvenience. After I'd finally finished at that window, I went to sit down again. As I was sitting there, the line grew longer and longer. The same girl from earlier (I think her name was Stephanie or Sarah or something with an S - more than hefty brunette probably in her thirties) called up several people who had been waiting on prescriptions, and as is common practice, called them and helped them right away. Not making them wait in line again. Finally my name was called. I was relieved that I could finally get out of there because I was feeling extremely sick and was shaking with chills and fever. By this time, the line was so long that people were getting a little territorial about their spots in line. I didn't want anyone to think i was "cutting" so I addressed the hefty girl, "I think you called my name?" She said she had but that I needed to wait in line again. I calmly explained to her that I'd already waited in line two times and cited the aforementioned reasons. She said, "Everyone else needs to wait, and you do, too" as though I were acting completely entitled. I got in line and started crying. I was so, so, sick and all I wanted was to be treated like everyone else was. I was so frustrated that I called the store from my cell phone and asked to speak to the manager. I would have gone and found the manager myself, but I was scared to leave my coveted place in line. I was told on the phone that the manager wasn't there. No manager? What kind of store doesn't have a manager on staff at all times? I don't care if it's the store manager or just a manager, someone of authority. But no, apparently no one of management status was actually on the premesis. I finally got to the front of the line, the hefty girl decided to add insult to injury by calling someone's name, someone who had been waiting for a prescription, and allowing her to go in front of me. I checked my phone because I knew I would be creating a yelp account to write this review. I had been at the pharmacy for 42 minutes. When I got to the counter, I said to the hefty woman, "The line is long and I don't want to hold anyone up but I just want to say that if everyone else had to wait in line every single time they were called, I wouldn't have had a problem, but I watched you call everyone else to the front of the line after you'd told me that everyone needed to wait and I just don't understand why I was the only one that had to wait." She said (and these are DIRECT QUOTES because I wrote them on my phone as I exited the store it astounded me so much) "Well you don't always have to wait in line but on a busy day like today it, like, depends on business needs. Like you might not have to wait in line if there wasn't a long line or if, like, you had been nice." My mouth DROPPED TO THE FLOOR. I couldn't believe that she had just said that to me! I had been patient and understanding to the Nth degree and wasn't even being mean or yelling at her now (both of which I believe I would have had EVERY right to do). I was so stunned, and all I wanted to do was call a manager over right then and there, but of course there wasn't a manager available, and I didn't want to hold up the line. I completed my transaction and left the store. If a store manager is reading this, please find out who this woman is, and please fire her. Not for ME, but for YOU, because this woman single handedly caused me never to return to this CVS and her unprofessional conduct not only reflects poorly on the store, but reflects poorly on the management and CVS as a whole. read more

Regarding the pharmacy it was awful! They seem that they are not knowledgeable and rude. The manager of the pharmacy ended up putting me on hold several times then hanging up on me because she could not resolve and or help me with my new prescription that the dr just wrote me. Then after my 2nd call back explaining on how rude it was she hung up on me she told me i could take my prescription somewhere else to get my prescription filled. Horrible and unbelievable! read more

It seems most of the negative reviews regard the pharmacy, this pertains to the rest of the store. Though I live closer to two or three CVS's and prefer driving as little as possible, I go out of my way to shop at this CVS. The cashier's are inevitably nicer, the store seems tidier, the aisles seem wider, parking is easy when I shop. Today I left something in the store and called about seven hours later and sure enough Robert found the items. As for prescriptions, I prefer not to use any of the CVS stores. One negative omen today, they've removed one of the cashier lines so there's only one. They can check you out at the photo department, but it's not a good sign there'll only be one line. read more

This CVS Pharmacy can't get anything right. I would give it 0 stars if I could. They deserve a negative number of stars, they are a black hole of rating stars! They never can find things that are there. They send you away, you call your doctor AGAIN, he/she calls in to them AGAIN, and then they miraculously find it (or not). They make sick people come back more than once for something that should be there, or is there somewhere, but they just can't find it. The system there is completely broken. Don't waste your time, go to mid-State CVS at least. read more

I just want to take the time to thank these fine employees. I have a heart condition and get my medication from a discount pharmacy because I can't afford them with out insurance. Several times I have run out before my shipment arrives of life saving medication. I spoke with Brian and he assured me they would give me free of charge enough to last until my shipment arrived. Words cannot express my gratitude! read more