Ongoing Issues with dischem

In 2023, the dischem branch ‘The Neighbourhood’ in Linksfield dispensed medication in my name while I was in another province. The handling of this matter by the store was extremely poor. Despite repeated assurances that they would review the CCTV footage, no resolution or feedback was provided. With no progress from dischem, I reported the matter to Discovery. dischem was unable to account for why the medication was dispensed or to whom it was given. Discovery was wonderful and confirmed that dischem would reverse the transaction. To this day, I have not received any refund—neither directly to my account nor via my medical aid. Following this incident, dischem placed additional security restrictions on my profile. I am now limited to collecting medication from only one dischem branch and must present my ID for every transaction. Each month, I receive calls from the dischem call centre offering to pack my medication. I also receive SMS notifications stating that my medication is ready for collection. However, upon visiting the store, I am repeatedly informed that my medication cannot be packed due to the ID requirement. Yet every month I am called and assured my meds can be packed. As someone living with a chronic illness, I am deeply frustrated and disheartened that I am bearing the consequences of dischem’s error. I did not order medication from The Neighbourhood branch while out of the city, and in fact, I had not placed any orders for several months. It should have raised concerns that only one item from a multi-medication script was requested after such a long period of inactivity. I have ceased lodging complaints about this issue, as I have received no resolution or refund to date. Ironically, I had already stopped using the Neighbourhood branch years earlier due to a separate poor experience. On that occasion, I ordered medication for collection at the Neighbourhood, Linksfield. After receiving an SMS confirmation, I arrived at the branch, only to be told—after a 30-minute wait—that my medication had been incorrectly packed at the Lakeside branch. The pharmacist was unable to call Lakeside directly, as “the phones cannot dial out,” and ended up using my personal phone to contact the other store to rectify their error. If these problems are happening to me, they are happening to others as well. Individuals with chronic illnesses typically require more frequent medication than the average person. If someone is collecting ten items a month, there is naturally more opportunity for error than with someone who fills a script once per quarter. However, it is unfair and unacceptable that I am being penalised for mistakes I did not make. On 22 April, I spoke with a call centre team leader about removing the security restrictions from my profile. She indicated that she would email the branch and arrange for my medication to be prepared. Yet again, one medication was missing when I went to collect, and I was informed that neither the store nor the call centre could remove the security from my profile.

Why am I receiving multiple calls every month from dischem when they are unable to fulfil my prescriptions? Why am I restricted to a single branch when I was not responsible for the original error? Why must I endure these additional security measures because dischem dispensed my medication—either erroneously or *****ulently—to someone else? Why am I denied access to the convenience of services such as “Pack My Meds” because of a mistake made by the pharmacy?

I do not expect any change from dischem at this point. However, I feel both angry and deeply hurt that individuals with chronic illnesses must fight to receive the correct medication from a supermarket masquerading as a pharmacy. I am pained by the thought that someone undergoing chemotherapy or living with a terminal illness might have to waste precious time arguing with dischem staff in order to receive life-saving medication.