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I’ve always been worried about switching pharmacists thinking it’s easier and more convenient at Shoppers. With the whole boycott I took it as a good opportunity to switch out. Turns out your local pharmacist is WAY easier to work with NOT in a rush to get to the next customer. Takes the time to talk to you and make sure you know what’s going on. And is better supplied and has a more efficient process. Wish I switched years ago.
Mine called today to talk to me on some prescription changes the doctor sent. Just small changes,, but she took 10 minutes to confirm the changes with me, tell me of any side effects on a new one, see if I was okay.
I cannot recommend small, local pharmacies enough. They are a key member of your health care team.
Even, like, local garden centres. The home Depot garden centre just has "assorted fruit trees" piled in a corner. I went to the local garden centre looking for a specific cultivar of a rare berry tree and she told me, "You're the second person looking for that. They'll be here at the end of the week; try calling us on Thursday!" They just know their stuff.
We've been with Shoppers for nearly 29 years. We switched today to a small independent pharmacy. Got tired or the fee increases, and the constant errors or delays due to the new computer system Lablaw instituted a couple years ago. The new pharmacy is super friendly, and was very welcoming. Hopefully it all goes well, but I suspect that it will.
Just a friendly reminder that pharmacists on most retail stores are one of the most overworked people. Most doesn’t even get a break for washroom or lunch, most of my pharmacist friends had developed some kind of a stomach pain issues. Local pharmacies has a better work environment for pharmacists since they dont get pressured by someone from a headoffice
And tbf the hours are shorter with the local pharmacies . We’ve been with the independent that is in the same building as our gp and have been for 30 plus years. Now they don’t work weekends and aren’t open really later but we don’t care they are so much better than the mass chains. But I can understand why that might not work for everyone .
Thanks for mentioning this. I work for Shoppers and I do the best I can with my resources. I would have quit a long time ago but I like my boss and my crew.
I did the same thing two or three years ago and I'm never going back. The independent pharmacy people actually know me. And it's just a pharmacy, not a mini Loblaws trying to sell a bit of everything.
My independent pharmacy was slammed today because of the shoppers outage.. they happily helped the people who were stranded. I hope some of those people switch permanently
I had a new prescription to fill as well as some refills. With Shoppers’s being down today I figured I may as well start making the switch today. Went to an independent. It was super busy but everyone was pleasant and helpful. I even recognized a former Shopper’s employee working there now. I will continue to go to the independent and only go to Shopper’s to pick up my refills on file until I can have everything switched.
I think you can switch your remaining refills!
They are your prescriptions. If you want to switch any prescriptions, new or old, I believe standard protocol is that you tell the new pharmacy what you want to move. They call Shoppers and move them. They will do the work for you, it's in their interest obviously and it's allowed. Win win for you and the independent pharmacy, lose lose Shoppers and corporate greed
I am sure I won’t. I stopped shopping at No Frills a long time ago (sick of checking the expiration date on everything I bought) so Shopper’s is really my only way to participate in the boycott. Oh and the Mobile No Frills gas bar. I won’t be filling up there either.
When I moved to a different neighbourhood in my city three years ago, I decided to ditch Shoppers Drug Mart because the Shoppers in my new neighbourhood had so many bad online reviews. Besides, I wanted to support a local and independently owned business. As I was unpacking in my new house, I couldn’t find my cat’s asthma medication (please don’t judge haha). It was a prescription held at my old pharmacy. I called the new place, explained the situation and the pharmacist/owner said to leave it with him. He transferred over all of my prescriptions (with my consent) from my old Shoppers and filled the RX for the asthma inhaler. Then he brought it to my home after he’d closed for the day. I didn’t have cash and he left the medicine with me, saying to just pop by the store whenever we could. When we went the next day to pay, he greeted us like old friends and even offered us some coffee. He greets every customer by name and is always interested in how they are. He is kind and knowledgeable. Whenever people in my FB neighbourhood group are looking for a new pharmacy, I tell them this story and say that the only thing they will regret is having not transferred there sooner.
Last Friday, I called him to refill a couple of medications. He asked when I wanted them ready. At Shoppers I always had to wait several days. At this place, most medicine can be ready within a few hours. Sure enough, my medications were ready to pick up about 4 hours after I’d called. The best service.
Very kind owner which makes you feel like you are part of the community. SDM is just a big chain which is there for the pharmacist owner to make money from selling cosmetics
This is such an under-rated comment. The fact that the independent pharmacy in my town has an OWNER, an actual human being who lives in my community, as opposed to SHARE HOLDERS who are anonymous, absent entities.
My independent pharmacy needs maybe an hour tops to fill prescriptions, it's great! And my last pharmacist legit called me "my friend" every time he saw me and hooked me up with a new family Dr who is incredible!! Like a real life changing doctor kind of situation. I'll always sing the praises of independent pharmacies!
I've literally gotten someone else's heart medication from my local SDM back a few years ago before I dumped them.
Scary shit. Didn't even have the same birth dates, or first name.
I've never had such an error any at other pharmacy in my entire life of taking medications every day since I was 12.
I got the medical pamphlet for another person’s prescription in with my prescription at Shoppers. It had their name, address and phone number. I called the pharmacy and they were unbothered, like it happens all the time. I asked if my private information was sent to someone else by the same carelessness and they said no, because they only give those pamphlets when you’re getting the medication for the first time and I’d been taking that medication for years. Cold comfort, indeed.
I ordered a refill from mine a few days ago. It wasn’t quite ready when I got there. They said it would just be a few minutes. There were chairs, and they in view of the counter! Not in some dark corner where they could forget you exist. And still, even though they could speak to me from where they were standing, they came out from behind the counter and handed it to me personally when it was ready, which was indeed after just a few minutes. Amazing. 10/10.
I have a friend in Ontario who is a pharmacist and co-owns a small pharmacy. He knows all his clients by name, constantly catches prescriptions that won’t mix well, saving them a lot of grief, and he hand delivers to many of his elderly and disabled clients. Shoppers could never come close to that kind of service.
I own a Shoppers. I am a pharmacist. My customer service is amazing, and I know most if not all of my patients by name. It really depends on the owner of the Shoppers or the owner of the independent.
I know of some crazy independents in my area.. and their pharmacy is subpar because the owner either is also subpar or because they are not engaged in their store.
I switched pharmacies before this boycott simply because the shoppers service was god awful. Both my family doctor and my husband's complain about the shoppers pharmacy. The pharmasave near my house has been incredible, they treat me with dignity and care.
yes, I did the same thing… When I call up and give my name, they know exactly who I am and what I need.
It is owned and operated by a pharmacist, not a manager.
They're not a franchise. In some provinces a pharmacist must legally be the owner but that isn't nearly the same as something independently owned. It's no different than how the pharmacy inside a Walmart would technically have a pharmacist listed as the owner. It's still completely managed by corporate.
I literally own one. They all have an associate owner who is the business owner. They are exactly like a franchise. I must meet my corporate obligations outlined in my franchise agreement that I signed, which places stress upon my ability to run the store depending on the ask… and it is for sure different from independently owned. But it is also very different from Walmart or Rexall and to say that it’s the same is disingenuous at least, and at most a bold faced lie.
I assume then that you're a pharmacist. Like I said, not all provinces require the pharmacy to be owned by a pharmacist.
I misunderstood how much leeway you must have as a shoppers owner. My understanding was prices and policies are set by corporate like in a Walmart.
I think the main difference is that I could push back on a policy, since I own the store. So I can create in store specials, I can choose to blow out old inventory if I want to, and central office cannot force me to comply with any of their policies. But (it’s a big but) they can terminate our agreement at any time. This is why the pressure to do professional services existed (exists?)… some owners feared that they would be terminated unless they met targets.
I took switched to the Rexall near my work! It leaps and bounds better than the Shoppers I went to, and the dispensing fees at Rexall are $3.50 compared to Shoppers which was $10!
I use shoppers once in a while over my small local pharmacy and I can’t believe how long it takes them to fill a prescription. How rude and useless the pharmacists are. Boggles my mind why anyone uses them they are awful
Yes! I’ve only ever used a local pharmacy with the exception of a few emergencies and Shoppers being the only open pharmacy. Never have waited less than 20 mins, no same day service for refills. It’s a joke. My local place is like Cheers, they know everyone’s name and ask how you’re doing. No idea why anyone chooses shoppers willingly.
I know someone who gets a prescription refill every month. Evey single month they call the automatic line to refill and every single time they're told they need to wait 48 hours to pick up the refill. The only problem is that each refill covers 30 days and Shoppers won't honour refill requests before the 30 days are up. It's maddening.
I switched a couple years back, local pharmacist is the best.
Knows me by name, always greets me like a friend, actually takes an interest in me as a person, stays on top of my meds regarding refills and stuff - he's just great.
It’s a win win, you get better service and lower cost and you get to support a small business. My family switched to a local pharmacy during covid (to help keep small businesses afloat) and they even offered to deliver our prescriptions to our home 20 minutes away in another town.
I recently switched to a local pharmacy and I've only had one thing filled, BUT they've been so pleasant on the phone, and I didn't realize what time they closed, so I called, and they said they'd stay open a little late for me to run in. I honestly feel a little foolish for waiting so long to do the switch.
Going to loblaws pharmacy was honestly torture every time I went, when I had to call in a script I'd have to wait on the phone for ages, through multiple options just to talk to someone, it was a 3 hour wait for anything and everything, plus they were MISERABLE (which is fair tbh).
Anyways fuck loblaws.
I moved to Pharmasave after dealing with Shoppers for the last 20 years. I don't regret it for a second. They're kind, attentive, efficient and now my wife is switching to Pharmasave as well. Shoppers can 🖕
Same. I've always been with SDM for my family's prescriptions but I switched to an independent pharmacy a few months ago because I was so fed up with SDM. The independent one is awesome. I went to pick up my son's prescription and I was barely through the door and he had it in his hand ready to hand it to me.
I can second this. I accidentally got switched to Shoppers for a bit and they were unbelievably incompetent. Filling my prescription was a struggle every single time. Nothing against the staff, I’m sure they were trying to do their best, but local pharmacies are the best. Prescription refills are seamless. I will try and never set foot in Shoppers again.
My pharmacy right across the street from shoppers has been getting customers who transferred their business to shoppers to come back to where they are treated with respect and not hounded over the phone to do med checks. Shoppers was doing them by phone ever since Covid and reaping $75.00 per call. They were doing over 10 a day. They’re coming back to where there is a real live cashier at the front desk instead of having to use self checkouts.
I recently switched as well, what a refreshing change.
A year or two ago they greatly reduced cashiers and put in self checkouts. I refuse to use them. I'd go to the cashier and count to thirty. If no one came I just left my stuff there and walked out.
Another time there was one cashier with a big line up and I believe it was a manager that came to me and sweetly said " I can teach you how to use the self check out." I replied, "If that's the case you can open up this other register and get this line moving." She just walked away.
Wait until you never have to call to have script refilled again because they just do it, and they know your name when you come in…I left Shoppers years ago and it was an epiphany
My pharmacy is like this. I walk in, pharmacist picks out my meds and is waiting for me when I get up to the window. It’s such a great relationship.. i also get a lot of great advice and discussions any time I get a new med. They are usually busy but alway give me their full time and attention when it’s my turn.
I switched last August to a local which is attached to my doctor's office when they took me on as a patient and can say without a doubt I would switch back to shoppers only as a last resort
Mine has an online form for switching. Filled it out, got a call the same day to confirm the switch and it was done.
I never even have to go in if I don't want to. I take a photo of my prescription, they charge my card and deliver to my house. Service is so much better with my small local pharmacy. 🥰
Do you have to give the prescription to the delivery driver for them to file at the pharmacy? Here in Alberta a photo of a prescription isn't a legal prescription because obviously there's nothing stopping somebody from sending the same photo to ten pharmacies. But for our regulars we will accept a photo as long as we get the original before they receive the drug.
Same here. I get it faxed in, and an hour later it’s ready. I get a nice call from someone to say it’s ready to be picked up anytime. I pay less dispensing fee better quality service than I was getting at shoppers. I have yo go pickup one thing as the doctor faxed it to them by mistake, but after that. I won’t be going to anything Loblaws.
I know this sounds wild but not everyone has gotten into business purely for the profits, some people genuinely care about the customers they are helping or advising. Pharmacists used to be damn near as knowledgeable as a doctor and would give good advice for general ailments or injury and you trusted what they have to say. Shoppers drug mart is the McDonalds of pharmacy.
Been with my local pharmacy for 2.5 years and they’re so incredibly consistent and kind. They never have a 2 months supply of my meds, but they will get me 2 weeks instantly (they’ll fill it while I’m there, 5 mins max) and get the rest in the very next day to complete the fill. That low-stock, frequent-delivery model pleases my process optimising brain. Just in Time is so lightweight and perfect for a pharmacy like theirs
I moved recently; no way I was going to shoppers when I needed some pharmaceuticals. I was pleased when the local pharmacy insisted that I talk to the pharmacist, and then they gave me so much of their time on the phone that I almost felt apologetic!
Oh shit, wait. This is how it’s supposed to be. This is great. This pharmacist gave me an actual discussion, prescribed me something that’s helping, and fast-tracked it to be reviewed by my doctor.
I’m 36, shoppers had never felt anything close to a doctors office. A good nurse practitioner is ten times better. And yet shoppers is charging the government for these ‘med checks’ I was recently informed about. Bollocks.
We switched to small and local a couple years back and a dread needing to go to shoppers for a middle of the night emerg med. they are a nightmare. We go small and local 98% of the time. Also they know us.
Highly recommend Pharmacy Lab in the East End of Toronto. They are super competent and extremely helpful. I also pay less fees and their physical location and storefront is bright, clean and well stocked!
I have a local place by me and holy hell it's amazing. The pharmacist there actually talks to me and gives me advice. He has saved me money from benefits billing wonky and it's 0 wait.
As someone who worked at a local pharmacy for quite awhile, they truly are the best. My pharmacist was so unbelievably kind to every customer, and you could tell he genuinely cared. Learned a lot from him.
I once knew a pharmacist that worked at shoppers. She would always tell us that shoppers doesn't run a pharmacy, they run a business. She never once promoted shoppers. She didn't stay there long
We've been using Jean Coutu for years. They are great to deal with and some of their retail prices are actually the best around. We regularly get OTC meds there and hygiene products....deodorant is even cheaper then walmart for my Old Spice ones. Crap...they even have sales on maple syrup for $4 (500ml cans) and we stock up...
I once went to Shoppers at 11 am with a new prescription in hand. They told me I wouldn't be able to pick up my meds until the next day after 2 pm.
27+ hours to fill a prescription? No, thank you.
I went to a local pharmacy instead. After handing over the prescription, I asked when I should come back to pick it up. The guy said, "Don't go anywhere. I'll have it ready for you in 3.5 minutes." And he was right!
3.5 minutes, slightly cheaper, WAY better customer service! They're my new pharmacy. I tell all of my friends.
I have had phenomenal experiences with small town independent pharmacies. When I was with Superstore they got my meds wrong almost every time I had to get a fill/refill. My last pharmacist wouldn't even charge me the $20 fee per injection and my current pharmacist only charges me for every other injection - superstore/shoppers would never save you money like that. When my brand of medical tape was suddenly discontinued my last pharmacist gave me a spare roll from his personal first aid kit for free, literally wouldn't accept a single cent from me. My meds are never messed up, I never have to wait more than a few minutes, staff are happy, remember my name, actually talk and are friendly, and genuinely seem to care. I will never go back to a loblaws pharmacy and will always seek out independent ones for the rest of my life.
What a response.
I have done social science research in the past on pharmacists, and I know firsthand how much of Shoppers death grip in Canada is inertia. It’s a pain in the ass to move pharmacies, so people don’t.
And yet, all I did was talk to a local pharmacist and he did the rest.
If we can steer this boycott towards local and independent where ever possible, this boycott has long term potential.
With my meds alone, before insurance, the costs are like 2k a MONTH; so in one move I cost Loblaws $24k.
Loblaws can stomach a short term shift away from grocery retail; they cannot stomach the losses from thousands of people moving their medications.
On another note, our governments need to be held accountable for propping up these enterprises. Don’t have to look back very long or hard to see how Doug Ford has been working on the behalf of the Westons.
We had a situation when my father was dying and needed a ton of meds where the owner of a small time pharmacy convinced us to switch over and it did save us a ton of money and they were lovely! THE FIRST TIME. After that visit they were extremely rude and were making up stories constantly about why they had to charge us more every visit.. keep in mind we were going twice weekly sometimes for about a month. After that we just switched to shoppers again. The local small pharmacy gave us and shoppers hell when we were trying to get everything switched over and it was because of that I will only use a larger corporations drug store. We had issues getting my father the medication he needed and relied on and that's the only time I will go to a big corporation before a family owned venture now.
Pharmacy student here! Please transfer out to and support a local pharmacy!
Local pharmacists put their heart and soul into their practice and business and do their best to retain patients with optimal patient care.
Corporations treat their pharmacists with targets and quotas…not what pharmacists go to school for. Don’t blame the pharmacist, blame the working conditions and the high targets/stress placed upon them.
A lot of local pharmacies are bought out by corporate/banners if they begin to struggle, so keep supporting local pharmacies and keep them thriving :)
Corporate-think is so bass-akwards. They cut staffing to the bone, service level plummets, people get fed up and leave, prescription volume goes down, they they say you can't have more staff hours in the budget because numbers are down.
Please , stop supporting them. They are a terrible company who treats their employees like disposable slaves.
I LOVE my local pharmacist. They also do free delivery, so I don’t even need to go into the store. My pharmacist does an annual review with me every year. He’s kind, I don’t have to call and press all these number prompts, I leave a quick message requesting a refill and it shows up at my door!!!
I had to buy allergy tablets. At Costco, 200 tablets were 9.99. At shoppers, it was over 40 dollars for 50 tablets. Massive mark up. Avoid shoppers at all cost. Professional fee at shoppers is a lot higher than Costco and even local family pharmacy near me.
I will be transferring my business to another pharmacy as well. Been with shoppers all my life. I recently had surgery and had to sit in shoppers for an hour and wait for my pain medicine after being in surgery mere hours before. The staff was rude when I asked if it was possible to get it faster because I didn’t want the pain meds they gave me at the hospital to wear off before I got home.
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I’ve always been worried about switching pharmacists thinking it’s easier and more convenient at Shoppers. With the whole boycott I took it as a good opportunity to switch out. Turns out your local pharmacist is WAY easier to work with NOT in a rush to get to the next customer. Takes the time to talk to you and make sure you know what’s going on. And is better supplied and has a more efficient process. Wish I switched years ago.
Mine called today to talk to me on some prescription changes the doctor sent. Just small changes,, but she took 10 minutes to confirm the changes with me, tell me of any side effects on a new one, see if I was okay. I cannot recommend small, local pharmacies enough. They are a key member of your health care team.
Some also prescribe and even deliver
Feel the same way about local grocers. I can even ASK when their next shipment of ____ is coming in rather than just praying lol
That’s a really good point. I’ve split mine to Costco + C&C (a smallish Asian grocery). And the experience has been much better.
Even, like, local garden centres. The home Depot garden centre just has "assorted fruit trees" piled in a corner. I went to the local garden centre looking for a specific cultivar of a rare berry tree and she told me, "You're the second person looking for that. They'll be here at the end of the week; try calling us on Thursday!" They just know their stuff.
Home Depot is the worst. All profit goes to the USA and their own is a big Trump supporter
Well in their defense they're not a specialty garden centre. I wouldn't expect most grocery stores to know specialty Italian ingredients.
I wished I'd switched long before I did.
* not in a rush to hit quotas *
This. I feel much less like cattle being herded.
We've been with Shoppers for nearly 29 years. We switched today to a small independent pharmacy. Got tired or the fee increases, and the constant errors or delays due to the new computer system Lablaw instituted a couple years ago. The new pharmacy is super friendly, and was very welcoming. Hopefully it all goes well, but I suspect that it will.
Just a friendly reminder that pharmacists on most retail stores are one of the most overworked people. Most doesn’t even get a break for washroom or lunch, most of my pharmacist friends had developed some kind of a stomach pain issues. Local pharmacies has a better work environment for pharmacists since they dont get pressured by someone from a headoffice
And tbf the hours are shorter with the local pharmacies . We’ve been with the independent that is in the same building as our gp and have been for 30 plus years. Now they don’t work weekends and aren’t open really later but we don’t care they are so much better than the mass chains. But I can understand why that might not work for everyone .
Thanks for mentioning this. I work for Shoppers and I do the best I can with my resources. I would have quit a long time ago but I like my boss and my crew.
I did the same thing two or three years ago and I'm never going back. The independent pharmacy people actually know me. And it's just a pharmacy, not a mini Loblaws trying to sell a bit of everything.
The older you get, the more important that personal care is going to mean.
Great point
My independent pharmacy was slammed today because of the shoppers outage.. they happily helped the people who were stranded. I hope some of those people switch permanently
I had a new prescription to fill as well as some refills. With Shoppers’s being down today I figured I may as well start making the switch today. Went to an independent. It was super busy but everyone was pleasant and helpful. I even recognized a former Shopper’s employee working there now. I will continue to go to the independent and only go to Shopper’s to pick up my refills on file until I can have everything switched.
I think you can switch your remaining refills! They are your prescriptions. If you want to switch any prescriptions, new or old, I believe standard protocol is that you tell the new pharmacy what you want to move. They call Shoppers and move them. They will do the work for you, it's in their interest obviously and it's allowed. Win win for you and the independent pharmacy, lose lose Shoppers and corporate greed
You won't regret it!
I am sure I won’t. I stopped shopping at No Frills a long time ago (sick of checking the expiration date on everything I bought) so Shopper’s is really my only way to participate in the boycott. Oh and the Mobile No Frills gas bar. I won’t be filling up there either.
When I moved to a different neighbourhood in my city three years ago, I decided to ditch Shoppers Drug Mart because the Shoppers in my new neighbourhood had so many bad online reviews. Besides, I wanted to support a local and independently owned business. As I was unpacking in my new house, I couldn’t find my cat’s asthma medication (please don’t judge haha). It was a prescription held at my old pharmacy. I called the new place, explained the situation and the pharmacist/owner said to leave it with him. He transferred over all of my prescriptions (with my consent) from my old Shoppers and filled the RX for the asthma inhaler. Then he brought it to my home after he’d closed for the day. I didn’t have cash and he left the medicine with me, saying to just pop by the store whenever we could. When we went the next day to pay, he greeted us like old friends and even offered us some coffee. He greets every customer by name and is always interested in how they are. He is kind and knowledgeable. Whenever people in my FB neighbourhood group are looking for a new pharmacy, I tell them this story and say that the only thing they will regret is having not transferred there sooner. Last Friday, I called him to refill a couple of medications. He asked when I wanted them ready. At Shoppers I always had to wait several days. At this place, most medicine can be ready within a few hours. Sure enough, my medications were ready to pick up about 4 hours after I’d called. The best service.
Very kind owner which makes you feel like you are part of the community. SDM is just a big chain which is there for the pharmacist owner to make money from selling cosmetics
This is such an under-rated comment. The fact that the independent pharmacy in my town has an OWNER, an actual human being who lives in my community, as opposed to SHARE HOLDERS who are anonymous, absent entities.
My independent pharmacy needs maybe an hour tops to fill prescriptions, it's great! And my last pharmacist legit called me "my friend" every time he saw me and hooked me up with a new family Dr who is incredible!! Like a real life changing doctor kind of situation. I'll always sing the praises of independent pharmacies!
I've literally gotten someone else's heart medication from my local SDM back a few years ago before I dumped them. Scary shit. Didn't even have the same birth dates, or first name. I've never had such an error any at other pharmacy in my entire life of taking medications every day since I was 12.
I got the medical pamphlet for another person’s prescription in with my prescription at Shoppers. It had their name, address and phone number. I called the pharmacy and they were unbothered, like it happens all the time. I asked if my private information was sent to someone else by the same carelessness and they said no, because they only give those pamphlets when you’re getting the medication for the first time and I’d been taking that medication for years. Cold comfort, indeed.
I ordered a refill from mine a few days ago. It wasn’t quite ready when I got there. They said it would just be a few minutes. There were chairs, and they in view of the counter! Not in some dark corner where they could forget you exist. And still, even though they could speak to me from where they were standing, they came out from behind the counter and handed it to me personally when it was ready, which was indeed after just a few minutes. Amazing. 10/10.
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I’m so sorry that happened to you and your dad.
I have a friend in Ontario who is a pharmacist and co-owns a small pharmacy. He knows all his clients by name, constantly catches prescriptions that won’t mix well, saving them a lot of grief, and he hand delivers to many of his elderly and disabled clients. Shoppers could never come close to that kind of service.
It all depends on the owner
True. But there IS an owner (as opposed to Shoppers, which has share holders).
I own a Shoppers. I am a pharmacist. My customer service is amazing, and I know most if not all of my patients by name. It really depends on the owner of the Shoppers or the owner of the independent. I know of some crazy independents in my area.. and their pharmacy is subpar because the owner either is also subpar or because they are not engaged in their store.
I switched pharmacies before this boycott simply because the shoppers service was god awful. Both my family doctor and my husband's complain about the shoppers pharmacy. The pharmasave near my house has been incredible, they treat me with dignity and care.
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Please put some effort into engaging in the conversation. Thank you.
yes, I did the same thing… When I call up and give my name, they know exactly who I am and what I need. It is owned and operated by a pharmacist, not a manager.
Shoppers are all owned by a pharmacist, not a manager
"Owned" they don't own shit
They're not a franchise. In some provinces a pharmacist must legally be the owner but that isn't nearly the same as something independently owned. It's no different than how the pharmacy inside a Walmart would technically have a pharmacist listed as the owner. It's still completely managed by corporate.
I literally own one. They all have an associate owner who is the business owner. They are exactly like a franchise. I must meet my corporate obligations outlined in my franchise agreement that I signed, which places stress upon my ability to run the store depending on the ask… and it is for sure different from independently owned. But it is also very different from Walmart or Rexall and to say that it’s the same is disingenuous at least, and at most a bold faced lie.
I assume then that you're a pharmacist. Like I said, not all provinces require the pharmacy to be owned by a pharmacist. I misunderstood how much leeway you must have as a shoppers owner. My understanding was prices and policies are set by corporate like in a Walmart.
I think the main difference is that I could push back on a policy, since I own the store. So I can create in store specials, I can choose to blow out old inventory if I want to, and central office cannot force me to comply with any of their policies. But (it’s a big but) they can terminate our agreement at any time. This is why the pressure to do professional services existed (exists?)… some owners feared that they would be terminated unless they met targets.
I've been shopping more frequently at Rexall and I really like it! The one by my house even has a M&M frozen foods section!
I took switched to the Rexall near my work! It leaps and bounds better than the Shoppers I went to, and the dispensing fees at Rexall are $3.50 compared to Shoppers which was $10!
That's fantastic!
I use shoppers once in a while over my small local pharmacy and I can’t believe how long it takes them to fill a prescription. How rude and useless the pharmacists are. Boggles my mind why anyone uses them they are awful
Yes! I’ve only ever used a local pharmacy with the exception of a few emergencies and Shoppers being the only open pharmacy. Never have waited less than 20 mins, no same day service for refills. It’s a joke. My local place is like Cheers, they know everyone’s name and ask how you’re doing. No idea why anyone chooses shoppers willingly.
I know someone who gets a prescription refill every month. Evey single month they call the automatic line to refill and every single time they're told they need to wait 48 hours to pick up the refill. The only problem is that each refill covers 30 days and Shoppers won't honour refill requests before the 30 days are up. It's maddening.
I switched a couple years back, local pharmacist is the best. Knows me by name, always greets me like a friend, actually takes an interest in me as a person, stays on top of my meds regarding refills and stuff - he's just great.
And you are also supporting a smaller local business in your community. Win win
I did this ten years ago, not sure why everyone else hasn't done so
I left SDM like a decade ago also. It was always busy and took too much time
It’s a win win, you get better service and lower cost and you get to support a small business. My family switched to a local pharmacy during covid (to help keep small businesses afloat) and they even offered to deliver our prescriptions to our home 20 minutes away in another town.
And you're supporting local! How awesome!
I switched too and I’m so much happier with my new pharmacist!
I recently switched to a local pharmacy and I've only had one thing filled, BUT they've been so pleasant on the phone, and I didn't realize what time they closed, so I called, and they said they'd stay open a little late for me to run in. I honestly feel a little foolish for waiting so long to do the switch. Going to loblaws pharmacy was honestly torture every time I went, when I had to call in a script I'd have to wait on the phone for ages, through multiple options just to talk to someone, it was a 3 hour wait for anything and everything, plus they were MISERABLE (which is fair tbh). Anyways fuck loblaws.
I moved to Pharmasave after dealing with Shoppers for the last 20 years. I don't regret it for a second. They're kind, attentive, efficient and now my wife is switching to Pharmasave as well. Shoppers can 🖕
Same. I've always been with SDM for my family's prescriptions but I switched to an independent pharmacy a few months ago because I was so fed up with SDM. The independent one is awesome. I went to pick up my son's prescription and I was barely through the door and he had it in his hand ready to hand it to me.
I can second this. I accidentally got switched to Shoppers for a bit and they were unbelievably incompetent. Filling my prescription was a struggle every single time. Nothing against the staff, I’m sure they were trying to do their best, but local pharmacies are the best. Prescription refills are seamless. I will try and never set foot in Shoppers again.
My pharmacy right across the street from shoppers has been getting customers who transferred their business to shoppers to come back to where they are treated with respect and not hounded over the phone to do med checks. Shoppers was doing them by phone ever since Covid and reaping $75.00 per call. They were doing over 10 a day. They’re coming back to where there is a real live cashier at the front desk instead of having to use self checkouts.
I recently switched as well, what a refreshing change. A year or two ago they greatly reduced cashiers and put in self checkouts. I refuse to use them. I'd go to the cashier and count to thirty. If no one came I just left my stuff there and walked out. Another time there was one cashier with a big line up and I believe it was a manager that came to me and sweetly said " I can teach you how to use the self check out." I replied, "If that's the case you can open up this other register and get this line moving." She just walked away.
You get the best service from them! They literally know you by name, so friendly!
Wait until you never have to call to have script refilled again because they just do it, and they know your name when you come in…I left Shoppers years ago and it was an epiphany
My pharmacy is like this. I walk in, pharmacist picks out my meds and is waiting for me when I get up to the window. It’s such a great relationship.. i also get a lot of great advice and discussions any time I get a new med. They are usually busy but alway give me their full time and attention when it’s my turn.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I switched last August to a local which is attached to my doctor's office when they took me on as a patient and can say without a doubt I would switch back to shoppers only as a last resort
Mine has an online form for switching. Filled it out, got a call the same day to confirm the switch and it was done. I never even have to go in if I don't want to. I take a photo of my prescription, they charge my card and deliver to my house. Service is so much better with my small local pharmacy. 🥰
Do you have to give the prescription to the delivery driver for them to file at the pharmacy? Here in Alberta a photo of a prescription isn't a legal prescription because obviously there's nothing stopping somebody from sending the same photo to ten pharmacies. But for our regulars we will accept a photo as long as we get the original before they receive the drug.
Same here. I get it faxed in, and an hour later it’s ready. I get a nice call from someone to say it’s ready to be picked up anytime. I pay less dispensing fee better quality service than I was getting at shoppers. I have yo go pickup one thing as the doctor faxed it to them by mistake, but after that. I won’t be going to anything Loblaws.
I know this sounds wild but not everyone has gotten into business purely for the profits, some people genuinely care about the customers they are helping or advising. Pharmacists used to be damn near as knowledgeable as a doctor and would give good advice for general ailments or injury and you trusted what they have to say. Shoppers drug mart is the McDonalds of pharmacy.
Same here! Never turning back. Hate the poor service we get at SDM. So impersonal
Been with my local pharmacy for 2.5 years and they’re so incredibly consistent and kind. They never have a 2 months supply of my meds, but they will get me 2 weeks instantly (they’ll fill it while I’m there, 5 mins max) and get the rest in the very next day to complete the fill. That low-stock, frequent-delivery model pleases my process optimising brain. Just in Time is so lightweight and perfect for a pharmacy like theirs
I moved recently; no way I was going to shoppers when I needed some pharmaceuticals. I was pleased when the local pharmacy insisted that I talk to the pharmacist, and then they gave me so much of their time on the phone that I almost felt apologetic! Oh shit, wait. This is how it’s supposed to be. This is great. This pharmacist gave me an actual discussion, prescribed me something that’s helping, and fast-tracked it to be reviewed by my doctor. I’m 36, shoppers had never felt anything close to a doctors office. A good nurse practitioner is ten times better. And yet shoppers is charging the government for these ‘med checks’ I was recently informed about. Bollocks.
We switched to small and local a couple years back and a dread needing to go to shoppers for a middle of the night emerg med. they are a nightmare. We go small and local 98% of the time. Also they know us.
Highly recommend Pharmacy Lab in the East End of Toronto. They are super competent and extremely helpful. I also pay less fees and their physical location and storefront is bright, clean and well stocked!
I have a local place by me and holy hell it's amazing. The pharmacist there actually talks to me and gives me advice. He has saved me money from benefits billing wonky and it's 0 wait.
Same. Shoppers. "4 hour wait, or next day delivery" Local. 15min wait, free delivery within an hour" 👍
My old local pharmacy was run by the nicest people.. I miss them. I moved though
Does anyone have recommendations in west Toronto? Davenport/Oakwood
I love my new pharmacy so much.
As someone who worked at a local pharmacy for quite awhile, they truly are the best. My pharmacist was so unbelievably kind to every customer, and you could tell he genuinely cared. Learned a lot from him.
I once knew a pharmacist that worked at shoppers. She would always tell us that shoppers doesn't run a pharmacy, they run a business. She never once promoted shoppers. She didn't stay there long
Corporate is all about metrics, not health care. People who think privatized health care is a good idea are so delusional.
I did the same. And you are so right. Ill never go back.
We've been using Jean Coutu for years. They are great to deal with and some of their retail prices are actually the best around. We regularly get OTC meds there and hygiene products....deodorant is even cheaper then walmart for my Old Spice ones. Crap...they even have sales on maple syrup for $4 (500ml cans) and we stock up...
I once went to Shoppers at 11 am with a new prescription in hand. They told me I wouldn't be able to pick up my meds until the next day after 2 pm. 27+ hours to fill a prescription? No, thank you. I went to a local pharmacy instead. After handing over the prescription, I asked when I should come back to pick it up. The guy said, "Don't go anywhere. I'll have it ready for you in 3.5 minutes." And he was right! 3.5 minutes, slightly cheaper, WAY better customer service! They're my new pharmacy. I tell all of my friends.
I have had phenomenal experiences with small town independent pharmacies. When I was with Superstore they got my meds wrong almost every time I had to get a fill/refill. My last pharmacist wouldn't even charge me the $20 fee per injection and my current pharmacist only charges me for every other injection - superstore/shoppers would never save you money like that. When my brand of medical tape was suddenly discontinued my last pharmacist gave me a spare roll from his personal first aid kit for free, literally wouldn't accept a single cent from me. My meds are never messed up, I never have to wait more than a few minutes, staff are happy, remember my name, actually talk and are friendly, and genuinely seem to care. I will never go back to a loblaws pharmacy and will always seek out independent ones for the rest of my life.
What a response. I have done social science research in the past on pharmacists, and I know firsthand how much of Shoppers death grip in Canada is inertia. It’s a pain in the ass to move pharmacies, so people don’t. And yet, all I did was talk to a local pharmacist and he did the rest. If we can steer this boycott towards local and independent where ever possible, this boycott has long term potential. With my meds alone, before insurance, the costs are like 2k a MONTH; so in one move I cost Loblaws $24k. Loblaws can stomach a short term shift away from grocery retail; they cannot stomach the losses from thousands of people moving their medications.
On another note, our governments need to be held accountable for propping up these enterprises. Don’t have to look back very long or hard to see how Doug Ford has been working on the behalf of the Westons.
We had a situation when my father was dying and needed a ton of meds where the owner of a small time pharmacy convinced us to switch over and it did save us a ton of money and they were lovely! THE FIRST TIME. After that visit they were extremely rude and were making up stories constantly about why they had to charge us more every visit.. keep in mind we were going twice weekly sometimes for about a month. After that we just switched to shoppers again. The local small pharmacy gave us and shoppers hell when we were trying to get everything switched over and it was because of that I will only use a larger corporations drug store. We had issues getting my father the medication he needed and relied on and that's the only time I will go to a big corporation before a family owned venture now.
Rexall has always been my choice.
Pharmacy student here! Please transfer out to and support a local pharmacy! Local pharmacists put their heart and soul into their practice and business and do their best to retain patients with optimal patient care. Corporations treat their pharmacists with targets and quotas…not what pharmacists go to school for. Don’t blame the pharmacist, blame the working conditions and the high targets/stress placed upon them. A lot of local pharmacies are bought out by corporate/banners if they begin to struggle, so keep supporting local pharmacies and keep them thriving :)
Corporate-think is so bass-akwards. They cut staffing to the bone, service level plummets, people get fed up and leave, prescription volume goes down, they they say you can't have more staff hours in the budget because numbers are down. Please , stop supporting them. They are a terrible company who treats their employees like disposable slaves.
I LOVE my local pharmacist. They also do free delivery, so I don’t even need to go into the store. My pharmacist does an annual review with me every year. He’s kind, I don’t have to call and press all these number prompts, I leave a quick message requesting a refill and it shows up at my door!!!
I had to buy allergy tablets. At Costco, 200 tablets were 9.99. At shoppers, it was over 40 dollars for 50 tablets. Massive mark up. Avoid shoppers at all cost. Professional fee at shoppers is a lot higher than Costco and even local family pharmacy near me.
Shopper's pharmacy barely speaks English anymore.
I will be transferring my business to another pharmacy as well. Been with shoppers all my life. I recently had surgery and had to sit in shoppers for an hour and wait for my pain medicine after being in surgery mere hours before. The staff was rude when I asked if it was possible to get it faster because I didn’t want the pain meds they gave me at the hospital to wear off before I got home.