There is a phrase “Screwed up as Hogan’s Goat.” The phrase Hogan’s goat refers to something that is faulty messed up, or stinks like a goat. The phrase is a reference to R.F. Outcault’s seminal newspaper comic Hogan’s Alley, which debuted in 1895. The title of the strip changed to The Yellow Kid the following year.
CVS, a national drug store chain in the US, personifies Hogan’t Goat. Let me explain. A couple of weeks ago my wife and I, using the CVS App, made appointments to receive the fall flu shot, the new COVID shot, and the RSV shot. When we arrived for our appointment, we were told they were out of the RSV shots, it would be $200 each for the COVID shots, but we were OK for the fall flu shot which we both received. We passed on the $200 for each COVID shot as the news had been blaring about them being available and free for those of us on Medicare.
The next day I phoned CVS and asked them WTF was going on with the COVID shots. I was informed, the very next day mind you, that our military insurance, TriCare for Life, was now covering the COVID shots. Like this took place overnight!???
Back to the CVS app where I made appointments for my wife and I to receive both the COVID and RSV shots on Monday, 10/2/2023. I called CVS on 10/1/2023 and they assured us that the shots were and would be available for our appointments. So far everything seems to be working – Until!
Until we turned up at CVS in Granbury for our shots. The pharmacy area looked like Grand Central Station on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. There were people everywhere. We showed up at 1020 for our 1030 appointment, and at noon, yes 1200, we walked out with shots in our arms, a full hour and forty minutes after showing up for our appointments. Seems that some people like us signed up for appointments online which went into their computer base. Some called in for appointments that went somewhere else. Some just showed up. Some made appointments in person for a later date. All of these inputs were not merged into a time-sensitive file so who knows how the queue was established and managed, or mismanaged as the case may be?
The sad part about the mismanaged mess is I saw no indication that anything was going to be done about their inaptitude to preclude similar situations in the future. Luck for us, we now have our shots until next year rolls around. I think we will wait until our local Pecan Plantation pharmacy has the shots to preclude being part of CVS’s Hoagan’s Goat show again. Caveat Emptor!
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