I’m hoping this doesn’t sound too much like a rant, but I just want to offer some advice to the other small business owners out there looking for health insurance. I know I’ve advised some of you on my own research when setting up our health care, but will be looking for alternatives in the future based on a recent experience with CVS Caremark.
I’m hoping this completely ridiculous situation with CVS Caremark helps you avoid them at all costs if you’re making a similar decision for you and your employees. Here’s the almost unbelievable series of events that I’ve gone through with the Caremark customer service team that should warn almost anyone away from this company.
CVS Caremark Review: First Impressions
When SkyVerge was founded, I was put in charge of research on health insurance plans and finding the best plan for a company our size without a centralized location. Our first choice plan with United Healthcare turned out to be far more expensive than we thought it would be, so we chose a plan through Capital Blue Cross that uses CVS Caremark for prescriptions.
Any time I’d called them with questions about our prescriptions or coverages, they were very helpful and polite. I called to change my address on file, and they made sure everything was changed quickly, and even reminded me to edit the address for my upcoming prescription that would be filled.
However, I’d never actually experienced an issue until recently. Based on my 4-month experience trying to get a refund from this company, I would strongly advise you to avoid CVS Caremark if at all possible for mail-order prescriptions for your business.
CVS Caremark Review: The Worst Customer Experience of My Life
It’s easy to have great customer service when everything goes well and customers are happy. However, you really have to earn that reputation when you mess up or when things aren’t great with your customers. My first issue with CVS Caremark will hopefully be the only one I ever have to deal with.
Before you wonder how I handled this, note that I also do support for our software products – I know that being polite and understanding will always get better resolutions in situations like this since I’m usually the one resolving things. I took this approach with each CVS representative that I spoke with, and still had an incredibly negative experience.
CVS Caremark Review: The molehill that turns into a mountain
Caremark incorrectly charged me for a mail order prescription that was 100% covered by our insurance plan. I pointed out the error in the beginning of April (yes, April 9 – it’s as ridiculous as it sounds), and was told they’d investigate what went wrong, then get back to me.
I had to call back a week later, and then the next week, to get an answer as to what was happening – nobody ever called me to tell me that they’d resolved the issue. After a few call backs, I finally got the answer that a check would be mailed, as they couldn’t process a refund directly onto the card they’d charged (which should have been my first red flag – “Check’s in the mail” is never a good thing to hear).
However, nobody could tell me when that check would actually be sent. Finally, at the end of May I got a reference number for the case and this helpful woman also confirmed my address for the check that would be sent since we’d updated it recently. I was also told that someone from accounts would call me to let me know more information. This was the only time I’d actually had somebody call me from CVS Caremark.
The accounts team representative called and told me that a check would be sent, but they didn’t know when. Oh, and it would probably be at least a month, so don’t bother calling back for another month.
Yes, it was just as rude and obnoxious as it sounds. This was on May 22.
CVS Caremark Review: Wait, it gets worse
So you’d probably do what I did next: charged that sucker right back. I’m not waiting over 2 months for a refund that should just go back on my credit card. So as soon as I got off of the phone with the incredibly rude accounts representative, I got in touch with American Express and cited the reference number for a case that said I was due a refund, just not yet. Y’know, because 2-3 months is normal for a refund on something that they screwed up.
So a month later, American Express resolves the issue and refunds me the charge (June 26).
CVS Caremark Review: Wait, now it really gets worse
Okay, so I’ve got the money back that I’m owed, and we should be done now, right?
So remember CVS Caremark, the company that can’t keep their head straight enough to process a refund in less than 3 months? They manage to send me a notice about the chargeback and the now-outstanding account balance within 2 weeks. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
So of course, I call them July 11 to ask them to wipe the account balance and just cancel the refund check I’m liable to never receive, because now we’re square. Apparently we couldn’t wipe the balance because my case is still being investigated. Remember that part, it’s important. Repeat: they can’t issue me a refund yet because the case isn’t closed (spoiler alert: they try to lie to me about this later).
I ask them to put a freeze on everything and make sure that nothing is charged or sent to collections until this is resolved, and they confirm that’s the case.
CVS Caremark Review: Now we cross into ridiculousness
So less than a week after this conversation, I see a pending charge for the exact amount I charged back, which seems a bit weird. My prescription is being filled now, but remember that it’s covered 100%, so I’m not being charged for that. I call to make sure that they’re not going back on what they told me five days ago and I’m assured that it won’t be captured; they just authorize a charge before mailing.
I point out that this authorization is usually $1, not an exact amount in the hundreds of dollars. They confirm that it won’t be charged.
I think you see where this is going.
Yep, I’m charged the amount I charged back – first lie (unless you count “you’ll receive a check”). I confirm this on July 19 when someone tells me they re-charged what I had charged back because my account balance was outstanding. In case you don’t know this, merchants are not allowed to re-charge chargebacks; they have to be settled with their own collection method.
Now I’m pissed. Okay, I was already, but now I’m furious. I get to speak with a “senior resolutions manager” who tells me that a refund could take until the end of the year. As in, 8 months total. When I say this is unacceptable and I’ll be charging it back immediately again if this is the case, she says she’ll call me back no later than Wednesday night with news on refunding this charge.
And this is the second outright lie of many I am told.
CVS Caremark Review: Lord of the Lies
Monae from CVS Caremark never calls me back, so I call back on July 24 to say, “Umm, hey, you lied and said you’d call back. You didn’t.” I’m told that she left a voicemail (neither myself nor Max have a voicemail, and I confirm these are the only 2 phone numbers on file). Lie.
I’m told that a check was mailed to me May 2. Another lie. Remember that,
- on May 22 the accounts team said a check wasn’t mailed, and
- less than 2 weeks ago on July 11 they said that they couldn’t refund this and mark the account as resolved until their investigation was complete.
Oh, and they sent a check to my old address. The one they’d confirmed was changed. Yet another lie. I said, “That’s okay, I still owned that house until June 30 and received all other mail, including a check from my auto insurance company.”
Now they try to back pedal and blame the post office, then the address mixup despite the fact that they’ve been sending prescriptions to the right place. Nevermind that I still got all mail at that address until the end of June and everything that was forwarded to the new address. Oh, and they couldn’t send a check anyway when I called on July 11, but somehow they already one got sent May 2.
However, I just want the money back. So we say, okay we’ll cancel that “check” and refund your card. And my new friend at CVS tells me there’s no way to refund the AmEx they charged, but they can put it on my debit card instead. I think we’re at lie #6 or 7, because they can definitely refund my AmEx. I insist, but he continues to say it’s not possible.
I give him Max’s debit number instead and he confirms it will not be added to my payment methods in my account – God knows I don’t want money coming straight out of my checking account to this asinine company. Lied again. The debit card is successfully added to my account payment methods despite this assurance, but no refund shows up.
I have to delete it and call again for a refund. Now all of the sudden we can refund my American Express. My newest friend at CVS Caremark promises me that the refund will show up within 72 hours. This time I’m actually hopeful since I’m given a definite time period and it’s going on the card that was charged. Nope, Lie number…what the hell are we on again? 9?
I try one last time on August 12. Barbara promises me that Susan from account resolutions will call me back by Friday 8/15 at the latest, and this will be completely resolved by then.
Yeah, what do you think happened? Lie #12,000. Nobody calls me Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Nobody calls Max’s phone either.
CVS Caremark Review: Conclusions
I had to charge this back again with an American Express rep who was incensed on my behalf (which felt great), and had to issue a merchant block on CVS Caremark (so they can’t charge my card) because of their ineptitude and dishonesty. I’m so pleasantly surprised at this being resolved in 4 minutes because this is what great customer service looks like.
I’ll still have to get Caremark to wipe this account balance once this newest chargeback is processed because they’ll probably note that I have an outstanding balance again (as they did the first time). Now I think they’ve lied enough times that they can’t keep this straight, and will no longer have the “this isn’t resolved” excuse.
Never have I dealt with a company that was not only unable to carry out basic business functions (such as refunds), but was outright dishonest with customers. Telling me 4 times that a refund would be processed without processing this refund is incomprehensible, and there’s no viable excuse for it.
I’m hoping that this can reach you if you’re looking for new insurance or a plan to replace the insurance you have currently. Avoid CVS Caremark – for your sake and for the employees that you’re trying to take care of. If this is how they treat me when they messed up their own billing, imagine how this will be for any other serious billing issue.
And get an American Express card.
I couldn’t concur with you more. Fifty dollar overcharge. I paid full price for prescriptions before my CVS card was mailed to me. They owe me what I paid minus what my copay should have been. An account manager told me they don’t. She suggested I go to the pharmacy for refund. The pharmacist all but said this is something he is witnessing. He advised me to write a letter and he would call them. That was the beginning of this week. Yep, no call yet. BTW, I mailed my paperwork correctly a month and a half ago and it’s interesting their paperwork back doesn’t match. They did refund me 8.00. I haven’t even cashed it. It’s the principle not even the money. I also had to call them back when I began this process as you did. No C/S skills. So, let’s see what is 50 bucks times how many customers?
AMen!
CVS Caremark is the absolute worst .
My employer unfortunately switched over to them. They are so horrible and so frustrating that I went to the trouble, for the first time in my life, of writing a review for them on Consumer Affairs (https://www.consumeraffairs.com/rx/caremark.html) Note how low their overall satisfaction rating is on there.
I am literally out of my medication, something that never happened with my previous prescriber.
Please keep this blog post live to warn others what they’re in for when they deal with this horrible service that is in charge of distributing critical medication for so many people.
I worked with this company for over 8 years. I also worked on the Senior Resolution Team for several years during my time at CVS Caremark. I voluntarily left the company as the ineptitude of the leadership team became overtly laughable. Even being an employee, I had a very similarly difficult situation with this company, the very company I was employed at. Long story short, my wife laid in agony one night after complications from my son’s birth, with the prescription from the Dr in hand, because CVS Caremark refused to allow me to pick up the medication at a 24 hour Walgreens. There were no 24 hour CVS pharmacies in my area and if you were an employee they restricted your pharmacy network and forced you to only use CVS pharmacy. I was on the phone (with the very company I worked for) until 2am trying to get them to override it. They refused. It was then I knew I had to get out of that company. My current employer switched to CVS Caremark one year and immediately switched back to a competitor, Express Scripts. I concur with the author of this post – avoid dealing with this company.
My employer switched to this company and it has been nothing but problems. My husband and his doctor finally found a medicine for his COPD that worked wonderfully for him, he has been taking it for a year with this company paying for it. And then all of a sudden this company decides they won’t pay for it anymore and gives a list of other meds he needs to take now. And each different med has to be taken for at least a month to see if it will work. This company is putting my husband’s life in jeopardy by not paying for a med that they previously were paying for. I’m looking into who I need to contact in my state government to complain about this pharmaceutical insurance company. They do not care about people, they only care about the money.
So my doctor sent to my insurance on 5/8/17 an authorization for a injectable. It was approved on May 10 with a copy of that approval sent to CVS Caremark. I have now spoken to 10 different people at CVS, each one is polite and each one tells me a different story. I call everyday!! It is now 5/24 and the medication is still not on its way!! My insurance carrier is Blue Cross, and I am going to notify them that this provider is unacceptable.
Like others my employer switched and forced me to use CVS Caremark for mail order of my 90 day supply of meds. It has been nothing but mass confusion and deceitful practice ever since. While never having an issue with the previous prescription provider there is an issue every time my orders are due. The issues are too numerous to list but one thing is constant in that any confusion that starts out as a seemingly easily correctable situation snowballs into a headache that makes you just want to give up.
I could have written exactly what Lonnie (above) said. I have, unfortunately, been dealing with CVS Caremark for four years; I get 90 day prescriptions. This is no joke and I am not exaggerating…I have had to call CVS Caremark after EVERY SINGLE TRANSACTION!! The following is absolutely true and is typical of the dozens of other problems that I have had with this company:
CVS: We sent your account to Collections because you owe us $300.
ME: How can I owe you $300? You have my credit card on file?
CVS: Because your payment was over what was authorized.
ME: What are you talking about? My credit card would have accepted a charge for $300.
CVS: We set a $250 limit on credit purchases unless you authorize more.
ME: How would I know that?
CVS: I guess you are finding out now.
I pity all of us who are mandated to use CVS because of our employer. If you have the opportunity to use ANY OTHER pharmacy, do yourself a favor and use the alternative.
I haven’t read this article but just the title says it all my company switch to CVS recently and it’s by far the worst experience of my life with any company there it’s almost like a scam to get you to run through enough Hoops that you eventually go away I can’t explain how upsetting it’s been for me as well and hopefully my company finally realizes it someday. Go ahead three situations where I had to use them so far but one of them left me hospitalized another left me without my medication for 2 days which is the medication I take for 10 years now and the last was 6 months to get reimbursed for one of the things that they screw up on the first place I just wanted to voice something glad there’s a site that allow something to be said
I’m actually disabled from brain cancer and have heart disease and CVS specialty is going to be the death of me! I have to go long periods without my medication all the time and spends hours on the phone every month trying to fix what they messed up.
CVS CAREMARK has charged us $500 over our maximum out of pocket, which we met on July 6,2018. After several calls and promises that my case is being reviewed, nothing is has been resolved. I was told that while the $500 over charges were being reviewed the would quit continuing to charge us. Lie, lie, lie. We are continuing to be charged whether we we use their mail order or our local pharmacy. They are are incompetent at best and out and out crooks at the worst. There is no way to resolve this apparently unless an important person reads this blog post – not likely, I know.
I couldn’t agree more!
I just received the worst customer experience- I was hung up on by a Senior Resolution Team representative named Janelle when I asked for her managers name and number. CVS Caremark charged my card $90 without my permission and is refusing to refund it. I demand a refund. I never gave permission to cvs caremark to charge my card without calling me first. I never received a call.
I spoke with 3 different customer service representatives, Miranda, Scott, and Janelle, and they all told me different things. Miranda told me I could receive a refund, Scott said the company NEVER gives refunds (even though it’s listed on the website) and Janelle said I MUST BE LYING about not giving the company permission to charge me card. How rude it that! She told me she didn’t believe and was going to look up the phone call transcriptions from my previous calls. Since I am NOT lying I said GO AHEAD! I couldn’t believe she was threatening me! When I said I have to get back to work (I was on the phone for over 30 mins) and asked for her supervisor’s call back number she hung up on me! I want a full refund for a product that I never ordered.
8/13/18 12:32pm CT
IT IS THE WORST PROCESS I HAVE EVER BEEN THROUGH! I transferred to mail order 4mos ago. The process was hellish and they only transfer ONE fill of SOME MEDS so I had to get new prescriptions from all my doctors. Then the refills take forever on the phone! Literally 40+mins and every month an issue with one or more of the scripts. The website and app are hellish! There’s no time saved using nonfunctional processes!
I’m calling Medicare in the morning to file a complaint! Then I’ll be calling my doctors and trying to get to the Wal-Mart!
Absolutely true. Great blog, thank you posting it. I’m keeping after them, the lies and denied medication are not right. It is a sad statement that they’re still have a large part of the market. I wish I could give a review of zero.
What a nightmare. My state requires all companies to send out letters for any overpayments due to the customer. Discover sent one, I sent the necessary information, and they sent me a check. CVS sent a letter, I emailed the necessary info., and got an auto-response email saying it could take up six weeks for them to respond. Nine weeks and five emails later, still no response. Based on what I’ve read here, I doubt I’ll ever see a check. On the plus side, they do and will have to answer to the state eventually. Am I the only one who thinks this company needs to be investigated and charged brought?
I am currently having issues with CVS CareMark and it is going on a month now without any resolution! I have spoken to 4 reps and 4 supervisors that make me believe the problem is taken care of when in actuality it is not! They are sending me meds I cant afford and didn’t approve to be filled and then zapping my credit card for the money creating bank charges because charges went over my limit. It is so frustrating and its making me I’ll. If anyone has a suggestion as to how this complaint can reach the right ears please let me know.