Extremely Poor Service & Lack of Communication – Dis-Chem Okavango Pharmacy

I visited Dis-Chem Okavango last week Wednesday to purchase an item that was initially excluded by my medical aid. After confirming with my medical aid, I was informed that the exclusion would be overridden and the claim could be reprocessed. I communicated this to the pharmacist assisting me, but they incorrectly captured the claim as non-dispensed.

My medical aid confirmed on their side that the claim was valid and would be processed. However, when I returned on Friday, I was told once again that the claim was rejected. Despite me providing proof and explaining multiple times that they needed to resubmit the initial claim (not a new one), this was ignored.

Eventually, my medical aid reprocessed and paid the claim directly. I contacted the pharmacy with proof of payment, but instead of updating me, I was told someone would call me back after contacting my medical aid. That call never came. When I followed up in person, I was informed that the manager had sent an email to the claims department on Monday — but this was not communicated to me, despite my urgency and repeated requests.

I followed up again on Thursday, and only today (Friday) did I receive a response. I asked to speak to a manager, but that was also a fruitless exercise. In the end, I had no choice but to purchase the item cash. I was assured, in writing, that I would be reimbursed once the matter was cleared.

It is now Friday and I still have not received any feedback, or proper communication without me having to follow-up telephonically. This experience has been extremely frustrating, unprofessional, and disappointing, especially from a pharmacy that customers rely on for essential and urgent assistance.

The email response I finally received today was dismissive: “Good day. "X employee has been advised of your request and will be in touch as soon as he has a chance. We are a bit short staffed today and have a lot of in-store customers to assist.”

Having an influx of in-store customers is not a valid reason to dismiss a paying customer’s request — especially when their medical aid has already confirmed and paid the claim.