Working at Walgreens — Reviews by Employees

I started working at Walgreens this summer, which was a huge mistake on my part. They trained me for about 3 hours and then decided to leave me alone at the register. I ended up infuriating a customer when I accidentally forgot to give her change, and when I apologized and reopened the register to hand her the change, she accused me of trying to pull a fast one on her and wagged a finger at me in front of the other customers. Now, I know this happens in a lot of stores and it's not the fault of Walgreens, but the kicker is, when I started screwing up other transactions because I was so flustered about the lady with her change, and coupons started not ringing up or I accidentally scanned something twice, I would try to call my manager or a coworker to help me and all I got was a disgruntled sigh and "what" over the phone when I asked for someone to come help me. They were rude and then they had the nerve to be angry at me for having a short drawer on my first day. This was my first job working in retail and I wasn't used to counting change quickly. My drawer was only short by a dollar and some cents, but I got this big lecture about how if it happened 2 more times I would lose my job. I also had to fill out a sheet everyday which had a list of chores to do around the store in addition to maintaining customer satisfaction at the register. I planned on stocking shelves and facing/refilling items to be part of the job but I did NOT expect to be cleaning toilets, taking out all the trash, facing the entire store by myself, wiping down all the counters and trash cans, spraying the outside trashcans to get rid of the BEES that had made their home there, Windexing all the windows, and vacuuming the rug. I was hired as a service clerk, not a custodian. That's just my opinion though. The best part of this is, I fell at work and broke my two front teeth recently. I ended up needing time off to recover my head injury and to get my dental work squared away since it left my mouth in pain and unsightly. Well, my manager told me to "call when you think you'll be coming back" and I called him every few days and let him know that I still wasn't able to come back yet and I was still waiting to get my teeth done. Well, a week later he called me and basically bullied me into coming in the next day, and no, my teeth were still not fixed. The funny thing is that I was NOT being paid for being off work so why do they care so much, if I'm not even taking their money? I ended up getting sick again and not going in the next day like I was asked to, and I was told that I left them short staffed and under stress, and that they were already seeking a replacement for me. Well, that did it for me. I was so sick of it that I wrote a letter to my manager saying that I do not wish to work for him anymore. I stopped showing up to work. If i get terminated on the basis of job abandonment I really don't care. The place made me too angry and upset on a daily basis and is NOT worth my well being.

Are there any Store Team Leads here who are severely underpaid. I was just promoted a few weeks ago, i was told in the beginning that this position came with a dollar raise, no matter what your rate is at. Well all I got was a 25 cent raise. I do just as much work as the assistant managers. I open/close the store 5 days a week I think i'm entitled to a little more. Today at work, while I was unloading the truck the driver told me if I go to Walgreens.com and look up my position it will say I should have received a dollar raise with this position, only I can't find anything. Is there anyone out there who knows where I can go on storenet or walgreens.com that can help me.

I’ll probably rant later about this company when I quit but I’d rather rant about working in the Photo Department. As a head photo specialist, I have not heard anything yet about the Photo Department or from someone who worked as a Photo Specialist or the Head PS.

I don’t like working in a Department currently where the DM threatens that he is not in defense if the store I work at (or any other store) loses the photo department because of a lack of sales. He also threatened the Cosmetics Department if they do not maintain high sales as well. First off, corporate raising prices of film services over and over is preventing us from making ANY sales. [35mm/APS Film] Customers who used to come to us to have pictures processed now go to competition because my stupid and failing company raises prices. We hardly gain and we lose many customers processing film and digital because corporate needs money(?). How does corporate expect the Photo Departments in my district to make $400 a day when we hardly can’t make it even close. I must ask because I googled “Walgreens losing Photo Departments,” and found nothing, not even a news article about any store anywhere losing a photo department. Has anyone ever been to a Walgreens WITHOUT a photo department and/or a cosmetics department? Please let me know because I want to see a store without one. Other than that, if my DM was BS’ing, then he is full of ****.

Secondly, I hate the fact that back in late-2008 to beginning 2009, they got rid of the Area Photo Specialists that I thought helped stores maintain sales somehow. We had a woman who was an APS who came to our store constantly to check on things and left us her contact information if we had questions. Somehow she was fired or demoted…I don’t know, but since then, every Photo Department is fending on their own to survive. Other than that, it took someone to finally update the coupons on the damn photo envelopes… We were in July 2010 last month and still had coupons on packaging dated back to December 2009!

Lastly, back to the DM, the DM wasn’t of much help to our store or the district and was far beyond a prick. He never came to the store as often…only for meetings and just to harass my managers. When he did come, he didn’t talk to anyone just MGT. I’d assume he didn’t gave a damn about the photo department if he wasn’t in defense of saving it but didn’t have the balls to confront me personally or any photo staff about ideas to help out sales or to "warn" us of an imminent threat. Our store needed an Ink-O-Dem because we had over 10-20 customers per month coming to our store wanting to refill ink because we were closer and they hated the other five stores around us.… even had a business park just south of us! I found out in 2009 from Ink-O-Dem that Walgreens broke their contract with the company because something-of-the-line about money reasons, giving the reason why newer stores (not relocated stores) don’t get these machines but instead from other stores who are willing to give. The problem with this process is that my manager worked to get a machine from another store and all he needed was DM approval but was ignored or the DM’s secretary didn’t bother to tell him we were in serious need of one.

Customers can complain or argue about ink refills but I tell them to use Customer Input. Tell corporate you live nearby, you hate the other stores, we’re closer to you, we need an inkjet refill machine. If 100 customers said something, we’d probably have the damn thing by now (probably not), but I’m cautious about customer input because I don’t want to get fired for influencing customers that they have to fight for something to get it installed. And without customers fighting for goods and services, we get nothing but continue to lack in sales.

I don’t know how long I can last with this stupid and failing company. I’ve almost quit many times due to misunderstandings or miscommunications among management’s bad decisions and employees making near fatal mistakes but it’s hard trying to find a new job. That’s why I’m stuck here for now.

Unless you want loss prevention down your back twanky-four seven and ridiculous pharmacy managers breathing down your neck, mind you, pharmacy managers who have forgotten what being a pharmacist is all about ... find another pharmacy to work for.

Oh, a Walgreens commercial is on, the irony.

OK,

Please understand that I have 2 jobs. walgreens is a 2nd job. My 1st job pays me VERY well. I Applied and took a job when then 1st job cut hours (and pay). Just to help out.

With that being said, the job is nothing I didn't expect. The pay was low, but it was extra money for me. I make decent PM's because I try. The benefits are not bad. Medical .. proffit sharing and more. if you take advantegae you will be fine in retirement..

It is not glamourous, and it is Retail. It sucks. but it is nothing unexpected. i am happy for my stay there. I make 6 figures in my day job, but am happy to make a few extra bills in this economy. Who knows when any of us will work again until things turn around

As I sit here reading all of these horrible, horrible posts about Walgreens... I cannot help but laugh to myself. First & foremost, freedom of speech is great but does not one person have anything nice to say about this company? For those of you who chose to work in RETAIL, realize from the second you are hired, this is not an office job. You are NOT going to work Monday - Friday, 9-5 with weekends & holidays off. You are going to be required to work a different array of hours, open, close, mid-shifts, over-nights, weekends, some or all holidays & YES, you are going to work your butt off! Again, like I said, it's retail... what do you expect? If you don't like the way it is, than look for another opportunity & STOP complaining about it! Simply stated! In my opinion, this is a great company to work for... yes, despite the hours, they are tough, but I deal with it because it's my job & I love it! They give you your schedule 3 weeks in advance to plan, you CAN request days off... your not in jail! The pay is more than most companies offer, the benefits are wonderful & there is PLENTY of room & endless opportunities there for advancement if you set goals & strive to get what you want! If your not happy with your life or job, change it, be happy, you only have one life to live, so live it! Be happy, be positive! lOVE what you do! Did you ever hear of the law of attraction? If you think positive, good things & good fortune will come your way! Good luck in all your endeavours!

No matter how many years you work for this company, pay raises will be minimal. And if you happen to be a higher paid employee and you happen to make a mistake, they will have no issue in firing you at the first opportunity.

I just found my way out of this hell hole. I have been with walgreens two times. I quit the first time because I was offered a job paying $15,000 more than I was making as an MGT. That job only lasted one year when I was downsized so I went crawling back. What a mistake. The pay used to be respectable, but when they took MGT hours away it really hurt the pocket book. We had just bought a house, then my wife's van was rear-ended and totaled which was almost paid off. All of a sudden, we're scraping bottom trying to make our payments.
If you get 15 min. overtime, you will get a lecture from the manager, who, in our store is a pretty nice guy, but dumb as a box of rocks. The CL is a walking talking a**hole, the DM does nothing but forward notes from the CL's patting them on the back "GREAT NOTES RICHARD!!!" and ending every email with "WE NEED SALES!" really? I didn't know we were in the business to sell stuff...really.
The real problem lies with Walgreen's trying to cut costs by putting more work on the rest of the store while at the same time cutting their hours. Then we are going to switch insurance so you pay more for less coverage. Then we will climb up your but because you haven't sold you quota of suggestive sell crap, and you don't have any customer email addresses in your box.
This company is so upside down right now, I don't expect anyone is smart enough to get the ship righted soon. I will only get worse. Small stores are running with only a pharmasist, and one tech on a SATURDAY!!!
All it seems you do is put a way warehouse truck and take care of dumb customers because they can't find the toilet paper or the 19 cent pens. We have customers that expect you to walk them around the store and show them everything they can get for FREE after register reward....another way for our smarter customers to scam the company.
All in all, the reason I stayed so long is because it was 4 blocks from my house and I wasn't willing to drive 80 miles per day to the city where jobs were more plentiful, but I finally (after 3 years of looking) found a decent job with a decent company and I will be making more than my ex manager.
Walgreen's can be a decent place to work if you get in a store that has a good manager, and a good crew to work with, but you may not stay there too long. If you're in management, they will move most of you every year or two. I have worked with EXA's who averaged 9 months in each store.
Right now there is almost no potential for moving up. RX is in a hiring freeze, at the beginning of November, every non 24 hour store WILL lose one MGT, another reason I got out. and if you don't kiss their butts, or worse, you have zero chance of getting your own store.
See ya Walgreen's... KISS MY A**

This used to be an excellent company to work for. I have worked for them for several years. They used to be very employee friendly. They have spent the last couple of years cutting budgets and asking more and more out of us.

Walgreens is a joke. As a pharmacist, the pay is excellent, especially when you work overtime, as you are paid 1.5 times your hourly rate.

The worst part about this company is the management. Most are complete buffoons who ride one another's coattails up the ladder.

Just one example of management. The Pharmacy Supervisor is married to a pharmacist who used to work for him. Strike one. Bigger problem. She was married. Strike two. To ANOTHER pharmacist who worked for him. Strike forking three. But this jackwagon is still sauntering around making everyone's life miserable.
He, and most of the rest of his ilk are pathological liars. They tell you all they can about how the technology is to free up time for the pharmacist to perform their "real" job: maximizing medication therapy, whether it is just by checking a prescription, but more importantly telling people how to take/use their medication properly.

Ditto to those who have said that WAG will promote you only if your nose is up someone's butt. I worked for one of these fair haired children (AKA "emerging leaders") and he was a tremendous prick. Only thought about himself. Bitched me out one night for being 15 minutes late to the start of my shift, which, I admit, was "his time". However, one night ALL the pharmacy printers crashed. I stayed four or five hours after the end of my shift to fix them, and all I got was bitching from the day staff about what a whole they were in.

To put a cherry on top, I went on disability due to a mental illness issue. When I returned to work they sent me to one of the stores they send you to quit or be fired. I was NOT ready to be working nights at that store without help (why use the hours for night shift when "nothing happens"). Two drive through lanes, store is robbed monthly, and ZERO support from store or pharmacy manager. I just closed and left, because I was afraid I might kill myself if I stayed there. Of course they fired me, but not before the bitch of a pharmacy manager made as many disparaging comments about me as she could.

Long live Walgreens. Long enough to go down the shitter.

Oh, by the way, I never had an exit interview, so if you Walgreens clones out there want to find out who I am and sue me for violation of the non-disparagement clause, good luck, and go to hell.