Pillpack - used to have great support but it has been floundering lately

Pillpack used to be great on customer support, figuring out what was needed without much explanation. I used to think that this was because their support reps were Americans not Philippinos. But lately they've been screwing up. Back on May 2, 2018 I wrote them:

What ever happened to the melatonin? If you recall correctly I used to have like 1 milligram of melatonin that went along with the nicotinamide. This is all based off of Steve Gibson's Health Sleep Formula (https://www.grc.com/health/sleep/healthy_sleep_formula.htm) and quite frankly, if the melatonin isn't there then the nicotinamide isn't really worth taking. It's been a few months now since you first said that melatonin wasn't available and I was assuming it would be re-added when available. But for quite some time now I haven't been receiving any melatonin. I want to say, if I can't get the melatonin with the nicotinamide then please do not send me either or them. 

Also, I had asked to have the vitamin B-12 dropped a while ago but it keeps being shipped. 

Finally can you add fish oil 1200 Mg 2 tabs a day? 

Thanks.

Pretty simple request eh? As I stated I'm trying to follow the so called healthy sleep formula that Steve Gibson has and pointed them to the page describing that. And I clearly stated that if I can't get both then don't send either - meaning leave the 10 Pm packet empty. Their reply?

Marie (PillPack)

May 4, 7:22 AM MST

Hi Andrew,

I'd be happy to assist you with this! We had a prescription for your Melatonin, and we were unable to obtain refills. I have added one Melatonin 1MG tablet to your 8:00PM packet. I have also removed the Vitamin B-12 per your request. 

I also added the Fish Oil 1200MG, one in your 8:00AM packet, and one in your 8:00PM packet. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns; we're happy to help!

In general they got it, but the little error was that they put it on the 8 Pm packet where I clearly asked for it to be added to the 10 Pm packet as that's where the nicotinamide was. So I wrote them back to address that and the fact that Melatonin is sold over the counter:

Please move the melatonin to the 10 Pm time. It's supposed to be used together with the nicotinamide. 

I don't understand the statement that you unable to obtain refills due to a lack of a prescription. As I see it on the net melatonin is sold over the counter, so why the need for a prescription? I've never had a prescription for it because as I see it a prescription is not needed. Plus you just said that you added it and yet you don't even seem to require a prescription. Please explain.

So they responded:

Marie (PillPack)

May 4, 9:15 AM MST

Hi Andrew,

We did have a prescription for Melatonin 1MG from Dr. Rhodes. I did add this as an OTC for you, and we will have this changed to your 10:00PM packet, I do apologize! Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns; we're happy to help!

As I like to say, if you apologize you are implicitly admitting you made a mistake - otherwise what are you apologizing for?

My next PillPack shipment occurred on 5/21 and I examined the contents of what was to be shipped. I composed the following email to PillPack:

To my knowledge I've never ordered Niacel. I've ordered Niacinamide as discussed at the following web page https://www.grc.com/health/sleep/healthy_sleep_formula.htm. Looks like they've added Olemide. If I cannot get Meltonin, Niacinamide and now Olemide then please do not sent me anything for 10 Pm. The goal is to implement the sleep formulate as described on that page, in full, or not at all.

Thanks.

Yet I see Niacel on my dashboard for 10 Pm and no Meltonin. So then I'm paying money for medicine I didn't order and you are not following my instructions to not send anything for 10 Pm unless you can sent everything for 10 Pm. If this continues then I will ask for an accounting for every time you've sent me the wrong medication so I can get a refund.

Again, pretty simple eh? And again I said to only not send me stuff in the 10 Pm packet which is my bedtime packet.

Next I get a price alert:

Hi Andrew,

We’ve noticed a particularly high price for one of the items in your shipment this month:

NIACEL 250MG OTC	$65.25
Previous price: $39.00

And again, I've never ordered Niacel:

To my knowledge I've never ordered Niacel. I've ordered Niacinamide as discussed at the following web page https://www.grc.com/health/sleep/healthy_sleep_formula.htm. Looks like they've added Olemide. If I cannot get Meltonin, Niacinamide and now Olemide then please do not sent me anything for 10 Pm. The goal is to implement the sleep formulate as described on that page, in full, or not at all.  

Thanks.

 And again I say don't send me anything but for the 10 Pm packet only. Are we keeping count?

Demi B. PillPack RPh (PillPack)

May 31, 11:05 AM MST

Hello Andrew,

Thank you for your email. We apologize about any miscommunication. We have updated the NIACEL 250MG to NICOTINAMIDE 500MG, 3 capsules by mouth daily. Unfortunately, we currently do not carry OLEAMIDE POWDER. Because we cannot supply the oleamide, would you prefer that we remove the MELATONIN 1MG and NICOTINAMIDE 500MG from your Medication List?

Good question. Should I push for the Oleamide too? I think I'll try the Nicotinamide and Melotonin  in combination first. Maybe I'll look for Olemide myself...

No, the Oleamide power is a recent addition so I'm OK with getting Melatonin and Nicotinamide as that was what the sleep formulate was for a long time and I will ask Steve about the Olemide or search for it myself. 

So yes, ship the 10 Pm pack iff you have Melatonin and Nicotinamide and, of course, if you ever get Olemide, add that in.

So I responded. I wonder if they know what "iff" really means...

Alyssa (PillPack)

May 31, 12:38 PM MST

Hello Andrew,

My name is Alyssa and I am a pharmacist here at PillPack.
I just wanted to check before I sent anything out to you. You would like us to ship out the NICOTINAMIDE 500MG tonight to replace the NIACEL 250MG in your last pillpack. Just to let you know this shipment would come in a bulk bottle and not individual packets since it is separate from that original May 25-June 23 pillpack. I see the MELATONIN 1MG was included in that most recent shipment. 

Oh I got the ear of a real pharmacist! That's good.  I responded "yeah cool, thanks".

Nick Driscoll (PillPack)

Jun 7, 1:06 PM MST

Hi Andrew,

My name is Nick, one of the pharmacists here at PillPack.  Unfortunately, we are no longer able to get NICOTINAMIDE 500MG.  I apologize for the misinformation you were give.  Our purchasing department verified that we can get Niacel 250mg or Niacinamide 750 mg.  Would you like us to add either of these products to your account?  Please let us know! 

Anybody else noticed the "I apologize for the misinformation you were give"? Again, apology means admission of guilty does it not? And why could you spell misinformation correctly but then mistype given? Proofreading is a dying art (and yes I make mistakes too - but I admit them).

And I responded:

I don't know enough about Niacel and Nicotinamide to make this decision. I'm just trying to follow the health sleep formula mentioned below. I've heard Steve say that not all supplements act the same and yes it's sometimes hard to get the required ingredients. As a pharmacist I wonder what you think of the health sleep formula and whether or not Niacel or Niacinamide are valid alternatives to Nicotinamide? 

And I got a response:

Alex F. PillPack RPh (PillPack) Jun 8, 1:30 PM MST
Hi Andrew, 

My name is Alex, I'm one of the pharmacists here at PillPack. I reviewed the link you provided to the health sleep formula, and found we do carry one of the recommended Niacinamides, Source Naturals 1500mg Niacinamide. If you'd like we can have this alternative added! Melatonin, included in this sleep formula, is what I most commonly recommend for insomnia, as it is naturally formed in the body and is not habit forming. Though studies have shown benefit in using  Niacinamide/Nicotinamide to promote sleep, it's mechanism is not fully understood, with some theories that this works through GABA or Serotonin; however, the terms Nicotinamide and Niacinamide are used interchangeably. Though either the 750mg or 1500mg Niacinamide would be beneficial, the 1500mg is a timed release formulation that would work throughout the night, and I see that is what this formula recommends. Please let us know how you would like to proceed and we can have these supplements added!
Thank you,

Alex 

Again, great that I got the ear of a pharmacist  however has anybody else noticed that I've talked to Marie (support droid), Demi B. (another support droid), Alyssa (pharmacist), Nick Driscoll (another pharmacist) and Alex (yet another pharmacist). Can you say passing the buck? Can you say "this is what is wrong - you keep passing things around and nobody knows the whole story (nor researches it properly)"?

I responded to Alex:

Niacinamide 1500 mg sounds fine. Ship it!
Thanks for looking this over for me.

One might think - problem solved! But no! I run out of pills and ask PillPack what's the deal?

Ran out of my pills today. Then I noticed I didn't have my next box. What's the deal?

I received a phone call or two from PillPack. Let me stop here to bitch about yet another total inconvenience for customers... You call me and I do not get a phone ring. Why? Well because if you haven't noticed there's been a big increase in spam callers so I turned on the setting that says you have to identify yourself before I will pick up. So you leave a message (good many businesses don't even bother anymore) and it says something like:

Hi, this message is for Andrew. This is Shannon at pillow pet Pharmacy giving you a call. I'm sorry that I missed you. Just give us a call back at your earliest convenience at 855-745-5725. Also be sending a follow up email about what I wanted to discuss. Thank you so much and have a wonderful day. 

So what can I do but call the number and ask for Shannon. But do I get Shannon and speak with her about what this is about? Oh no! I have to give my name, address, date of birth and first born just to get transferred over to Shannon. WHAT THE FUCK! I mean really WHAT THE FUCK! How about cha just transfer me over to Shannon, she picks up and say "Oh this was about your recent PillPack shipment. I'd like to discuss that with you but first I need to qualify you, what is your full name, etc.". No! You couldn't do that!!! Well I'm not gonna take time out of my fucking day to clean up about your obvious fucking mistake and sit on the phone going through the whole nine yards of giving you personal identifying information over and over and FUCKING over again just to answer simply questions for my fucking protection. I don't give a shit about my fucking protections! You have my full permission to tell anybody about anything I have with you. Can I do that? No. Fuck you!

But let's continue...

I get the following email:

Hi Andrew,

I just tried to reach you by phone, and wanted to quickly follow up.

We are working on your request for a overnight PillPack shipment. Unfortunately our pharmacists have run into an error that is preventing us from completing the shipment. We have made our IT Department aware of this issue and they are working on it as quickly as possible. Due to you being without medication we have the option of transferring these prescriptions locally as we try and resolve this issue. We are also more than happy to create a shipment to arrive for Friday providing our technicians are able to resolve this as quickly as we hope. Please let us know how you would like to proceed as soon as possible by responding to this email or contacting us at 855-745-5725. 

OK Ms. Anonymous... I called back and in speaking to the support droid, who still couldn't figure out what was going on, I offered the following hypothesis: Perhaps the people over at PillPack had misinterpreted (several times mind you as I point out above) that my statement of "if you cannot fulfill my 10 Pm request fully then don't send it" to be "if you cannot fulfill my 10 Pm request then don't send anything what so fucking ever for the whole month" which I fully expect what happened here.

What the fuck PillPack!!!

How could you fuck up so badly. And what are you gonna do to fix this?

I have often pedaled your name and service and a cool idea and good support but I refuse to do that anymore unless you come up with some spectacular solution to my current problem!

I highly recommend you call me directly and do not stop until you get yours truly on the phone with a really good solution to this problem.

Maybe this explains it

Amazon to Acquire PillPack

Especially in light of Audible - doing the impossible! (Audible's another Amazon property)