Turned away at Walgreens Drive-thru Pharmacy

I stopped by the Walgreen's Pharmacy at Western, Milwaukee and Armitage on my way home from work today to pick up a prescription. I decided to go through the drive-thru, because the process of taking off and putting on my gloves, goggles, balaclavas, and helmet, then taking my lock out of my paniers, locking up my bike, followed by removing and carrying both of my panniers into Walgreens, for a quick pickup seemed asinine. I waited for about five minutes and the car in front of me stuck his head of the window to tell me that the cashier wanted asked him to let me know that they can not help bicyclists. So I went home. I called and spoke with the pharmacists who said that it is a safety issue, because another car can pull up, not see the cyclist and hit them. She apologized and stated that in this weather they should certainly make exceptions.

Regardless to the weather outside, I think its unfair that cyclists can not use the drive-thru. Anyone have similar experience or know of a place that has good drive-thru bicycle service?

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Permalink Reply by dan brown on January 8, 2014 at 9:24am

+2.

Free beer for Tom at the next CL bar night !  three cheers

James BlackHeron said:

+1 and good work Tom!

Tom Dworzanski said:

The most unfortunate part of all this is that it seems like yet another case of driver intimidation. Whether or not the pharmacy staff erred is uncertain as there seems to be a slight conflict in the details, however I think given their response, it shouldn't happen again.

Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on January 8, 2014 at 12:33pm

Thanks but it's no big deal :)

dan brown said:

+2.

Free beer for Tom at the next CL bar night !  three cheers

James BlackHeron said:

+1 and good work Tom!

Tom Dworzanski said:

The most unfortunate part of all this is that it seems like yet another case of driver intimidation. Whether or not the pharmacy staff erred is uncertain as there seems to be a slight conflict in the details, however I think given their response, it shouldn't happen again.

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 8, 2014 at 12:55pm

Why would armed robbery be an issue for a person on a bike and not for a person in a car?

El Dorado said:

The other safety reason is because of armed robbery. I doubt you can find bike drive through. Maybe you can get them home delivered?

Permalink Reply by S on January 8, 2014 at 2:28pm

It's much easier to track down a person if they're in a car with a license plate.  Doing the same with a person on some random bike is much more difficult.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Why would armed robbery be an issue for a person on a bike and not for a person in a car?

El Dorado said:

The other safety reason is because of armed robbery. I doubt you can find bike drive through. Maybe you can get them home delivered?

Permalink Reply by Laura on January 8, 2014 at 3:58pm

Thanks Tom,

That is very interesting.  The guy in the car in front of me was having some insurance issues.  The lady had asked if here is was anyone behind him. (I am only assume she asked this because she was going to ask him to pull forward so she could serve me.) His response to her was "yes there is a bicyclist behind me" He then a moment later, turned around and said to me, she said she can not serve you.  When I got home and called, there was not a manager available so I spoke with the pharmacist. Who was very clear that cyclists are not allowed. She did say after speaking to her that if I came back by tonight she would make the exception once due to the cold.  I will also call the manager and speak with him.  I am very happy to hear that they will in the future serve cylists. I hope that your phone call helped that message get out to the whole staff.

Tom Dworzanski said:

Walgreens just called in response to this situation!

I missed the call but the voicemail included a detailed response and an assurance that this was all a miscommunication. They are happy to serve cyclists.

You may listen to the voicemail here:

This is a complete transcript of the voicemail:

Hi Mr. Dworzanski. It's Chris at Walgreen Pharmacy, the pharmacy manager. I'm calling in response to this communication. Just wanted to let you guys know, or let you know, that we will accept a bicyclist into our drive-thru. From what I heard from my staff, a person in a car told her we wouldn't help her. We would've gladly helped her. So, definitely not anti-cyclist. We actually make room to put bike things outside of our front door to park your bikes and lock them up. If you have any questions please call me 773-772-2370. Hit option 4 twice. We're really sorry that that happened. We would've helped her without any problem at all. So call me if you have any questions. Otherwise, have a great day and happy new year. See you later. Bye.

This is a copy of the (admittedly rather aggressive, though I feel justified) message I sent them, to which this man was responding:

Dear Walgreens,

I am writing to complain about Store #9000 (2001 N Milwaukee Ave in Chicago). I recently read on an online forum (You may see it here: http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/turned-away-at-walgreens-drive-thru-pharmacy ) that cyclists are turned away at the pharmacy drive-thru. While I may not be a user of the pharmacy drive-thru, I none-the-less shop at Walgreens almost daily for miscellaneous needs.

As an avid cyclist and someone who cares deeply about the sustainability of my city, I find it shocking that your pharmacy staff, the same staff that insists I “be well," would refuse to serve a customer on a bicycle. A person on a bicycle is just as capable of and just as entitled to transacting business with the pharmacy through the drive-thru window as any motorist. Perhaps cyclists are more rare in your drive-thrus as they are less likely to need the medications needed by those who travel in a sedentary state, however we nonetheless do get sick sometimes.

The most shocking part is the absurdity of the assumption made by your staff member that the ban should be based on the possibility that a cyclist will be hit by an apparently blind driver. Letting go of the fact that vision requirements are a prerequisite to obtaining a drivers license, I would like to ask: Why then does your company maintain parking lots through which people walk if they potentially just as unsafe? Isn’t there just as much, if not more, or a danger of a person being plowed over walking to or from your stores?

Please look into this matter, both by contacting those responsible at store #9000 and also by consulting with the other resources available to you to answer my question as stated in the subject. Is Walgreens Anti-cyclsit? I need to know because my continued business with your company, and perhaps that of others, rests on you successfully proving to me that you have real, sensible, and non-discriminatory reasons for refusing to serve a customer on a bicycle.

Thank you,

Tom Dworzanski

Frequent Customer

The most unfortunate part of all this is that it seems like yet another case of driver intimidation. Whether or not the pharmacy staff erred is uncertain as there seems to be a slight conflict in the details, however I think given their response, it shouldn't happen again.

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on January 8, 2014 at 4:43pm

Adam, a robbery would be easier for someone on foot or bicycle to shuffle off into the crowd. As "s" stated no license plate number. As a youngster I was working drive through at a fast food place & was robbed at gunpoint by a "walk up" order.

Permalink Reply by dan brown on January 9, 2014 at 3:28am

correct S - cars cannot :

Salmon

go the wrong way down a one-way street

disappear into an alley/gangway

change the color of the car in seconds (think : remove helmet and outer layer)

ditch the vehicle (bike) in a small area and run


DHB

p.s. I am not condoning any of these; but have been known to do a few as the situation warranted



S said:

It's much easier to track down a person if they're in a car with a license plate.  Doing the same with a person on some random bike is much more difficult.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Why would armed robbery be an issue for a person on a bike and not for a person in a car?

El Dorado said:

The other safety reason is because of armed robbery. I doubt you can find bike drive through. Maybe you can get them home delivered?

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 9, 2014 at 5:53am

Makes sense. Still, there's got to be a way to address this issue while allowing people to bike though the drive though. If I remember correctly, Walgreen's drive-throughs don't have windows that open, only drawers to pass money and prescriptions though. If that glass was bullet-proof, it would prevent armed robbery, since there's no open window to reach into and the gun won't be effective.

dan brown said:

correct S - cars cannot :

Salmon

go the wrong way down a one-way street

disappear into an alley/gangway

change the color of the car in seconds (think : remove helmet and outer layer)

ditch the vehicle (bike) in a small area and run


DHB

p.s. I am not condoning any of these; but have been known to do a few as the situation warranted



S said:

It's much easier to track down a person if they're in a car with a license plate.  Doing the same with a person on some random bike is much more difficult.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Why would armed robbery be an issue for a person on a bike and not for a person in a car?

El Dorado said:

The other safety reason is because of armed robbery. I doubt you can find bike drive through. Maybe you can get them home delivered?

Permalink Reply by El Dorado on January 9, 2014 at 8:01am

Adam, yes the Walgreens windows are similar to the liquor stores in high crime neighborhoods where you put the money in and out comes the bottle.

Permalink Reply by Alex on January 9, 2014 at 9:04am

haha. with a 22% tax.

Chris C said:

Wondering if Colorado will implement drive-thrus.

Permalink Reply by Cassie on January 10, 2014 at 7:45am

I've gone through the drive-through sucessfully on my bike at that same Walgreens. The first person who came to the window said they couldn't serve me. I asked why not and was told it is a safety hazard because a car might not see me. I replied that any car going too fast to see my giant cargo bike with three passengers was going too fast for a drive through in any case. I asked for them to get the manager so I could complain.  

When the manager came, he asked what I needed. I said, I need to pick up my prescription. He went and got it. I paid for it. Done. 

Worth another try when you get an uncooperative clerk! They'll get used to it at some point.  They used to have a sign saying they wouldn't serve bikes, but it came down some time in the last year.

Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on January 10, 2014 at 7:50am

Could it be that they felt your cargo bike was a bit more like a car?

Cassie said:

I've gone through the drive-through sucessfully on my bike at that same Walgreens. The first person who came to the window said they couldn't serve me. I asked why not and was told it is a safety hazard because a car might not see me. I replied that any car going too fast to see my giant cargo bike with three passengers was going too fast for a drive through in any case. I asked for them to get the manager so I could complain.  

When the manager came, he asked what I needed. I said, I need to pick up my prescription. He went and got it. I paid for it. Done. 

Worth another try when you get an uncooperative clerk! They'll get used to it at some point.  They used to have a sign saying they wouldn't serve bikes, but it came down some time in the last year.

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