CVS Online Store – Easy Refills, Great Sales But Expensive Shipping Unless Ordering Prescriptions
Written: Nov 04 '03
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Online shopping has made it easy to obtain almost anything under the sun. From auctions sites you can pick up antiques for pennies, you can download music, movies and books and the newest trend – online prescription services. While I’ve only used CVS Online a few times, but receive monthly prescription refills, I’ve never had any problems using the site, receiving my order in a timely fashion or contacting customer service. Since there are no CVS stores in my area I was a little hesitant to try them out but after talking to some friends who live on the east coast, they convinced me that the CVS stores were on the up and up and carried a lot of different products. To be brutally honest, a lot of what they carry can be purchased locally at grocery, sports nutrition or specialty stores but they do have some killer sales and their “super saver” section is something that I check often.
Navigating the site is pretty easy and almost every item that is listed has a color photo, description and pricing clearly listed. Even prescription items have a good bit of information available to everyone, no need to create an account to read about precautions, warnings and shipping information that may pertain to certain items. From the site you can view weekly sales ads, sigh up for a newsletter, check on in store events and even access photos that you had developed though the Kodak Picture Center. The four main tabs on the main page help to guide you through the site and the search engine yields adequate results even with some minor spelling errors.
Prescription Service
Southern California is blessed with a tremendous number of pharmacies – Longs, Sav-On, Rite-Aid and those located inside grocery stores. Sadly, most of them are manned with incompetent morons that are lucky to be able to navigate their way to and from work in an automobile let alone dispense medications correctly. When I went to pick up a prescription at a local pharmacy I was given the wrong type of birth control pill and didn’t realize it until I had left the store. When I returned I went to the pharmacy and it took them a little over an hour to get the situation rectified. I was handed the small prescription bag and a whole lot of attitude. After that I was determined to find another pharmacy to do business with and had to resort to going online which landed me at CVS. It was easy to have my prescription information entered into the system and they did all the work in regards to contacting my doctor to verify it. After that I was emailed about the shipping date and asked if I wanted to sign up for the reminder service that the site offers for free.
CVS Brand Products
If you aren’t someone that is “brand specific”, you can save some cash by purchasing CVS brand name products. The ones that I have tried so far are just as good as the national brands, cost less and unless you looked at the label, you’d be clues that it was a store brand product. They carry their own line of first aid products, vitamins, minerals, baby care and more. The prices are less than the name brands and in my opinion they are just as good as the ‘fancy products’. One item that I really liked was the Metab-Accelerator that was just as effective as other weight loss products I’ve tried but about $6.00 cheaper. You won’t be able to find a CVS comparable item for everything but I was really surprised to see the wide selection of store name products they offered.
Super Savers
This is a section of the site that I visit often and contains products that are on sale, if you are looking to save money, this is a great place to start. It’s not organized according to product or price but similar items are grouped together. This section changes on a fairly regular basis so be sure to check it often and see what they have to offer. This isn’t the same section as the weekly store ad so be sure that you check out both of these sections to maximize your savings. Since there are no local CVS stores in my area having the ability to look at the sales ads from Nevada and east coast stores lets me know which products are hot and on sale – a true time saver.
ExtraCare Card
If you are looking to get free stuff – this is a must have card. Free to receive, this card allows you to receive free products, extra savings, coupons, rebate offers and more. If you are a member of Upromise.com you can also add to your nest egg by having this card and flashing it when you make a purchase at a retail store or entering your information when placing an online order. There are some stipulations about using the accrued ‘bucks’ but it is all explained when you sign up for the card. Some might view this type of reward program as an invasion of privacy since the products you purchase are tracked but if you don’t have a problem with that, this is a great way to save money and receive emails about products you’ve purchased or might be interested in.
Customer Service
CVS Corporation
Corporate Headquarters
One CVS Drive
Woonsocket, RI 02895
[888] 607-4287
storecomments@cvs.com
www.cvs.com
Shipping Fees
There are two sets of shipping fees for CVS, one for those that contain prescription items and another for those containing non-prescription products. The base rate for orders with a prescription are $1.95 for standard delivery and $9.95 for Priority mail. Non-prescription orders are more with the base being $3.95 for standard and $12.95 for Priority Mail. These prices might seem a little steep but you have to look at the total amount of your purchase and how much you will be saving by shopping online. This is one of the most common pitfalls of online shopping, being sucked in with excellent prices on products but getting zapped with shipping fees. If you find a product that you are saving a good bit of money on remember to add that shipping fee it to and make sure it is worth it. For me I purchased mainly CVS brand products that were significantly less than name brands and had them shipped with my prescription. Since there are no CVS stores in my area, this was the only way to try them out but you’ll never see me ordering anything unless I have it delivered with a prescription.
If you are ordering medications you may want to call their toll free customer service line to make sure your order can be shipped via standard or regular mail methods. Some controlled substances, medications that need refrigerated or have special needs have to ship in an expedited manner which means you get it a lot quicker but end up paying for it. Some of these medications also require that an adult over the age of 18 sign for the package so make sure that someone will be available as these items will not be left on the doorstep or be allowed to be delivered with a waived signature.
The Bottom Line
Shopping at the CVS online store might not be the best value if you are not ordering a prescription medication. The shipping fees are a little on the high side if you aren’t placing a large order or don’t have a code for free shipping. The site offers you a lot of brand names to choose from as well as the CVS brand, customer service has always been more than adequate for me but others have mentioned that they are lacking in attention to customers questions. If you can’t get in touch with a human via the customer service line you can use one of the automated forms located in the help section of the site. When I’ve used these forms I got replies within 12 – 24 hours, phone calls were usually handled quickly with pleasant operators and agents.
I’d suggest checking out the prescription prices to see if you can save some money on your medications, since they offer the free refill reminder you can arrange to have your monthly meds delivered right to your door. Remember to factor in the shipping fees to see if you will be saving money or not – to some people having them delivered is worth it even if it costs more money since it eliminates having to wait in line to pick up an order at a pharmacy. There are some items that require an adult signature so if you have any questions about your prescription, please call them to get all the information before you transfer a prescription or have them contact your physician about confirming an existing prescription.
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Prescription meds, first aid products, HBA items
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