November 2023 by david c
My partner went here a while ago for some medicine after a prescription was sent across by the hospital and she was told 20min wait, she walked around asda and went back and was told not ready but wouldn't be long , she ended up waiting another 40 mins and only when she stopped and asked a member of staff what was going on ,they said no one had told them she was waiting and prescription was ready for last 35 mins.We put it down to a one off but just found out and judging by the reviews they really are that incompetent and should be avoided if possible.Just got back from there and had to wait a total of 1.5 hours after told 20mins. We got there and queued up for 10 mins as it was busy, we gave them the prescription, told come back In 20 mins.Came back queued up again but about 15mins this time as even busier.Got to counter ,they took our name and went round the back and then came back and just started serving the next customer.Waited another 45mins and then we asked someone what was going on,they went round the back and a completely different women we hadn't seen before came out and apologised, she said no one had told her we were waiting and prescription was ready to be made/mixed . So still wasn't done as pharmacist was waiting to be told we had arrived before mixing antibiotics. Waited another 5 mins before finally receiving the medication and leaving.I don't usually leave reviews good or bad but I felt in this situation I just had to.We certainly won't be using this pharmacy again if we have a choice.
November 2023 by Sarah
Absolute awful pharmacy. Prescription was sent though at midday. I turned up at 18:30 was told at least 30 mins wait after already waiting 15'mins to be served. Had a serious cancer diagnosis and needed sleeping tablets as no sleep for 3days. Nonchalant member of staff. Don't say you pride yourself in customer service as you don't
October 2023 by Tonya ?T x? Xx
I feel that this pharmacy has gone very rapidly downhill unfortunately. My daughter is prescribed medicine to help her sleep due to being ND. She relies on this medicine daily. I called the pharmacy on Saturday to ensure they had her prescription ready and was told they did. Went at 10am on Sunday to collect but one of the ladies refused to let anyone in until 10.25am when a pharmacist arrived looking dishevelled. I was then asked to wait 20 minutes and then was told only 4 of my child's tablets were available. A 45 minutes wait from arrival to be told that. I then asked when they could get more as that would only last her 2 days (2 tablets per evening) and was assured that they would arrive Tuesday for collection. I just called (its 3.30pm on Tuesday) and was told they weren?t ordered and to call again on Wednesday at 5pm to see if they have them. I explained that my child is now without the medicine that you aren?t meant to just stop, and was basically told tough .Bad service, Negative staff and i?m officially done with this pharmacy.
October 2023 by Kellie Dove
The only reason I would give the colchester pharmacy a 3 star is because the staff at the front have always been very helpful. Pharmacists themselves can be patronising. The ques are very long, it takes way too long to get your medicine. This pharmacy has gone really downhill. I've been looking where else I can get my medicine's. It's sad, but I never recommend Asda pharmacy.
October 2023 by seamus fox
The forgiveness and compassion shown to me by the young bespectacled Asian pharmacist after I had spoken to him appaulingly using shamefully foul language showed goodness and class I wish I possesses. Thank-you and sorry. John Fox
October 2023 by Rosie May Gentleman
I really do feel sorry for the staff as they are constantly looking stressed and are very clearly understaffed to cope with the demands.A few times now I have been to collect medicine waited AGES to be told my medication is unavailable or only some of the amount is available!What is actually going on?! It is always chaos now!
September 2023 by Anne D.
Terrible Experience. After waiting for 30 mins, only half of my husband prescription was given. The electronic prescription was generated a week before but despite all this they told us to ring first before coming after 48 hrs. We have been ringing 21 times and no one is answering the phone. My husband need to drive and go there personally to collect hoping he will hve his prescription ready for collection. They need more personnel. Other pharmacies where I personally go isn?t this bad at all. We might need to transfer somewhere else. Very disappointing.
September 2023 by Rae Oliver
Summary of review (if you don't feel like reading a rant): Terrible pharmacy, rude employees, no concept of the fact that people are in pain/ need medication ? that's why they are there.I saw all the awful reviews from previous customers, hoping it wouldn't be *that* bad, but I'm sorry to say it was even worse than I thought. But the script A&E gave me was for this Asda pharmacy so I had to go to there.I handed in my script to the pharmacist and was told to come back in 20 mins. 20-25 mins I came back (silly me I should have started my timer) and was told very rudely the pharmacist is taking lunch. This woman (I see in previous comments described as "a short Indian lady") can only be described as mean, raising her voice at me from behind the counter. In extreme pain, I had to sit there crying and waiting for over half an hour, even though I could see them all laughing and chatting.I understand that people need to take breaks and eat their lunch. But a) have the lunch break times displayed somewhere (I asked about that and they brushed it off) andb) if you're going to take someone's script and tell them to come back in 20 mins, also tell them that you're going on lunch in 30mins.Very disheartening that we can't get help from the medical professionals we rely on ?
September 2023 by Daniel Flicker
Cant get items ready even with a weeks notice, dont tell you when your missing items either
August 2023 by Grace Kirby
Got a prescription from my doctor back in May, went in and they gave me half of my prescription. I paid for the full thing and they gave me an iou, told me to come back next week as they?d have to order the rest in.Went in the following week to pick the rest up and of course, no one had ordered them in? again they told me to come back next week as they would order them. As you can imagine they didn?t. This has been re accruing since the 5th May!!!I went in on Wednesday this week ( 9th August) only for them to take the iou slip and tell me they only hold onto prescriptions for 8 weeks and that I?m no longer on their system and if I wanted to get them I would have to get a new prescription from my doctor and pay for the remaining.Not only is it a mission to get served as there is always such a huge que and long wait times. They then tell you to come back in 30 minutes and it?s still not ready the next day. They never ordered in my prescription that I handed in in MAY! I then raised my concern to the manger that I had been coming in weekly to pick it up as the staff had told me they will order it in for her to then speak over me while I was explaining what had happened, her reply was ?no, we would have ordered them in, it doesn?t take months? and ?you?ll have to pay for a new prescription?. So now because of your incompetent staff not being able to do an order I have to faff around getting a doctors appointment and new prescription made up and pay again for a mess I haven?t made.Absolutely appalling customer service with rude and ignorant staff.
August 2023 by Lee Carter
Badly run & the worst pharmacy in Colchester.Waiting all the time.Today 10th August 9am waiting on pharmacist to turn up, assistant said probably stuck in traffic.Get up earlier & get to work on time.IDIOTS
May 2023 by Tim Leeson
So slow I feel like maybe I?m being punk?d. I was told I?d be waiting 5 minutes for my prescription. It?s been 40. This happens every single time. Most of the staff are very friendly, but there?s clearly something not working here.
May 2023 by Connor O'Driscoll
Same thing every time, doctor sends it over, go in that evening or next day, not ready. Went in yesterday, said it?d be half hour despite going to collect the day after the doctor sent it over, couldn?t wait because had to go back to work and like a fool I thought it would be ready to grab, been back today and it?s still not ready and been told to come back in 15. Good job I didn?t go back yesterday after half hour if you needed 36 more hours. Such a joke, reading the reviews it?s the same for everyone so the question is why is nothing being done to improve this
May 2023 by Colin Graves
Don't know why they have a phoneBe quicker to fly to America
April 2023 by Sophie
Truly terrible. I feel for the staff who are generally kind and helpful, but they clearly need more hands. A typical experience is phoning 50+ times trying to get through to see if your prescription is available, giving up and having to go in-person after failing to get through on the phone, queueing 20 minutes to be told there is (at least) a half-hour wait for your prescription to be prepared, then another 20 minute queue to actually collect. A thoroughly depressing experience, and the worst pharmacy I have used. Clearly managed & run extremely poorly.
