Ill-service by Marara Pharmacy

Hi Everyone Just to share my bad experience with Marara Pharmacy. We got our Chronic Medication (Diabetes, Heart, Blood Thinners) from Pharmacy Direct in the past round about the 25th of the month. It took us about 2 years to get our medication delivered correctly by Pharmacy Direct. Bonitas has forced us from January 2025 to get our medication from Marara Pharmacy. I have no idea of what the reason might be.

I have written a comment on Hello Peter in which I asked if we would also be struggling like some of the other patients to get our medication and believe it or not, I was contacted by one of the Ladies at Marara Pharmacy. This lady has indicated that we will not be having a problem and medication will be delivered in time and this lady is the person who is working on my profile.

I have submitted all out prescriptions on 21/01/2025. I even went as far as to get new prescriptions from the doctors, for which I had to pay, by the way. I've received the first sms to confirm receipt of all scripts on 31/01/2025. When I contacted the Lady working with my profile, I was told she is in a meeting. I left a message but was not phoned back. Later Friday afternoon I've contacted Marara Pharmacy and spoke to the Lady working with our profile but could not reach her and I've decided to send her an email. She rep**** by saying that she tried to contact me but I was unavailable. And she said that they have send me an sms and are waiting for the co-payment to be deposited. I told the Lady not to test my intelligence as I was having my phone with me the entire time and received no sms as she has indicated that they have sent. The only sms I received was to inform me that I will receive a sms as soon as our medication has been dispatched. After emails between us back and forth, the Lady phoned me and transferred me to the person who were busy issuing my medication. The line was so bad I could hardly hear the person on the other side. He was saying that there is and co-payment of over R800.00 and I requested him to send me the breakown in order for me to see what they claim from Bonitas. I am still waiting for that. I did however after these phone calls and telephone conversations received the claim Marara send through to Bonitas to claim our Chronic medicine. This was also a issue. On the claim acknowledgement received from Bonitas, the amount due by member was R0.00. We were normally charged R453.59 for one of my mother's Insulin injections. Marara Pharmacy is charging R2585.87. I've queried this claim on Friday afternoon after I received it. Since the first claim acknowledgement that I received from Bonitas on 31/01/2025, I received another 3 claim Acknowledgements from Bonitas of medication claimed by Marara Pharmacy, but no medication yet. My husband is on Warfarin and he only have enough for tonight. My Mother is injecting insulin, but can't inject the units as prescribed as she is almost out of her insulin. I am on heart medication and I still have another day or two remaining. And still today no email whatsoever from Marara Pharmacy or any sms indicating what the co-payment is even though the Claim Acknowledgement from Bonitas indicates none whatsoever.

This shlep is frustrating, time consuming and unnecessary. Where is this going to end? Will this be a reoccurring thing? Will I have to fight and forward emails to Bonitas and the Council for Medical Schemes until I am blue in the face or until one of us ends up in hospital due to the lack of medication because Marara Pharmacy doesn't care? Are the Council for Medical Schemes going to do something about this eventually? I am hugely concerned about the health of all members who is receiving there medication from Marara Pharmacy as I am 110% sure that this is not only me having this struggle on a monthly basis. The best of all is I have only started with Marara Pharmacy since January 2025. Is this fair towards us paying members? What is Marara going to do about it or are they just going to provide another empty promise?

I hope for the sake of Marara Pharmacy, Bonitas and all other Medical Schemes and these Pharmacies that this review will be an eye opener for them to pull up their socks and do something to prevent this kind of service to continue.