CVS Health: A broken customer experience in microcosm

A typical CVS pharmacy. Source is, ironically, an article about CVS innovation for customers [source].

TL;DR:

CVS Health’s customer experience is broken, across people, process and technology.

• People: CVS staff are disempowered to help customers.
• Process: CVS processes are attuned to everything but the customer.
• Technology: CVS.com (online) and CVS in-store do not interoperate.

This is my (broken) journey.

CVS, be better.

Situation

• I ordered 6x Food Intolerance Tablets from CVS.com
• CVS delivered 4x Food Intolerance Tablets and 2x Gluten Intolerance Tablets
• This is the second time this has happened to me. Last time, I ate the loss. This time, I was pissed.
• Hilarity ensues…

Impact

• Me: 3 hrs of my life I’ll never get back
• CVS
  – Pissed-off customer. I don’t think I’ll order from CVS.com again, and am considering moving my Rx to another pharmacy.
  – 30 min of in-store associate time wasted
  – 15 min of phone associate time wasted
  – 5 min of phone supervisor time wasted

Business process problems

Order Picking

1. Picked wrong item
2. Logged picking the wrong item
3. No-one checked order vs pick

In-store

4. Refused to refund item

5. Refused to give credit for item

6. Pickup inventory does not match store inventory [for exchange]

Call center

7. Telephone system
– Deeply nested call tree
– Buggy “voice recognition”

8. Telephone agent’s system not synced with customer system
– Telephone agent cannot see my order for 6x Food Intolerance

9. Telephone agent cannot override process model with justification
– Ex: Triggering a return based on the customer delivery or UPS delivery (both of which say delivered)

10. Telephone agent cannot “give me a callback” when the delivery system updates on her end. I’d have had to call back every day, and go through the call tree.

Systemic problems

1. People: Disempowered staff
   – In-store: There’s nothing I can do
   – Telephone Agent: i) cannot override with justification, ii) must contact supervisor, iii) not allowed to give callback with customer consent
2. Technology: Systems that don’t talk to each other
   – In-store, CVS.com
   – Customer Ordering, Call Center
   – Customer Ordering, Warehouse Picking
3. Process: Rigid, and not attuned to customer’s needs
   – TL;DR: CVS’s processes are designed for everyone but the customer: loss prevention, inventory management, revenue cycle, picking speed, call center cost, turf wars between in-store and online, etc.

Fact Pattern

The first time

Day -1032: UPS Delivers order

Day -1032: I notice the order is wrong

Day -1032: I eat the loss, ’cause I can’t even

The second time

Day 1, 9 pm: UPS Delivers order

Day 1, 9:15 pm: I notice the order is wrong

Day 1, 9:30 pm: I go to CVS to return the wrong items. I am prepared to do battle: original shipping box, e-receipt, purchase credit card.

Day 1, 9:30–10 pm: The CVS Store

• Cashier scanned item for refund. [See “Supporting Images”]
• Store refuses to: i) return item, ii) refund item, iii) exchange item
• Store refuses my request to speak with store manager
• iv) Idea: “Informal exchange”
  1. Check CVS.com for item.
  2. Available for pickup in store [See “Supporting Images”]
  3. Check shelves, no item
  4. Ask associate to check inventory system, no item

Day 1, 10 pm: Call CVS

• Call tree, at least 4 levels deep. Voice recognition system misdirects my request.
• Closed. Call back.
• Check website. Says alert us immediately. No mention of hours. [See “Supporting Images”]

Day 2, 10 am: Call CVS

• Call tree, again.
• I have a confirmation of delivery
• The telephone agent’s system says not delivered
• The agent cannot continue with a return without a confirmed delivery [in her system]
• The agent requests I call back
• I demur, and asks if there is anything she can do
• Agent sees Gluten Intolerance in her system; cannot see Food Intolerance
  – Order: 6x Food Intolerance [source: my order confirmation]
  – Picked and scanned: 6x Gluten Intolerance [source: phone agent system]
• Aha moment, but Agent is not empowered to help me
• Agent contacts supervisor
• Supervisory authorizes refund for 2/6 items
• Agent says she has no mechanism to take back the wrong items, so “donate” them [to the garbage]

Supporting Images

CVS refuses to refund, return or exchange item in-store

Photo of the CVS in-store point of sale system. This is what the CVS cashier saw. The cashier was dis-empowered to help me: system refuses, there’s nothing I can do.

CVS says item is available in store, but it wasn’t

CVS.com shows the item available in-store, but it wasn’t [source].

Wrong: Confirmed by looking at shelving and asking a CVS staffer to check the store’s inventory

CVS says “Call Customer Care immediately”, but help wasn’t available

CVS instructed me to call immediately, but help was not available [source].

Misleading: I called immediately. CVS sent me through a long call tree, said the department was closed and to call back.