Walgreens

Full review
In a nutshell, Walgreens has really shown me how bad customer service and bad shipping policies can make even the simplest shopping experience a tedious one.

WHAT IT IS
A regular online drugstore shopping site. Has everything your local Walgreens has and sometimes has a few specialty items that you might not find at your regular store. This is true for any shopping site that also has a physical store anyway, so nothing new here.

DO NOT ORDER TIME-SENSITIVE ITEMS HERE
I have ordered home pregnancy tests. I am not sure if and when they will ever arrive. I reckon my kids [if I ever have any] might be grown up and going to college by then? Anyway, so you understand how much more frustrating it is to just sit here twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the items to arrive!


THE GOOD
I always start with the good, but in this case, the bad is clouding my judgment! However impossible it seems right now, there are some good things about Walgreens.
-It has a site that is easy to navigate
-Orders are easy to place-pretty much the same as any other site. You can either register or shop as a guest
-Their search function is pretty accurate in finding what you want
-They also have free shipping for orders over $50 [for holidays they might lower this to $25 or so]

THE BAD
Here comes the long list:
-Shipping and returns policies are different for regular items, as compared to photo orders, prescriptions and contact lenses. So make sure to read their shipping and returns policies carefully
-They ship by UPS. I can hear you saying....what's so bad about that? The bad thing is they recycle UPS shipment/tracking numbers. This means that everytime you go on the UPS website to track your package, it will show you that it is delivered! It will also show you some obscure address to which it has delivered your package to! But on contacting customer service, I was told that I was supposed to click on "track its progress" and then I would be able to see where the package is! So I did and lo and behold, there were the details. But the problem is, you cannot call UPS and change delivery time, you cannot complain that you have not received the package, you cannot do anything but wait! And when you order time-sensitive items, this might not always be an option! And here I was, thinking it might save me the bother of going to the store and buying these items when I can have them delivered to my door for no shipping [I spent over $50!]. My package is still not here and it is well over one week since the items actually shipped!
-Again, read the shipping policies carefully. Ineligible items will be charged shipping even if there are items that are marked "ship for free"- just read those policies!!
- Shipping info on their site also says that they will let you know the arrival date once the order has been shipped. They do no such thing. They do email you once the order has been shipped with a bill that indicates what your credit card has been charged. But no estimated date of arrival is included.
-Customer service is curt and not very helpful. After speaking with them or emailing them, it will really make you wonder why you chose to shop with Walgreens
The only reason I would choose to shop online over physically going to the store is if they had superior shipping and customer service. Especially an online site that ships out precriptions should not have such terrible customer service and shipping service.
-Shipping offers are very confusing. Some items are "ship for free"-the ones with the green truck. This means they...well ship for free. They are also counted toward your total $50 purchase to qualify for overall free shipping. Other items are "free shipping eligible" which means that they are eligible for the total $50 purchase free shipping offer. They also have shipping charges based on weight......Okay I am going to stop now. It is way too much to explain here and I might not even have got it right!

BOTTOM LINE
I will NEVER shop at Walgreens online again. It has been a harrowing and confounding experience, and I am still not sure if I will ever get my items! Still waiting for that UPS guy to knock on my door......

RATING
The reason I am giving it just one star is to compensate for all those kind epinioners who have given it one too many stars. Also, if any of you are brave enough to shop on Walgreens, let me know how it felt to have your "dark side" awakened. This sure brought out a lot of negativity in me!! Not worth it!