Update: Medco Health Store

Remember I was a bit skeptical about Medco Health Store and their awesome deals? Well, the old adage of "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" rang true.

I checked on my order this afternoon, it was listed as processing and I was optimistic. Then my source made a post about how many people's orders were being canceled so I checked on mine just now. Behold, the order was canceled. I was annoyed, but no where near as annoyed and pissed as I was when I got off the phone with their customer service to see what was going on.

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I was informed that they canceled orders because too many people were taking advantage of their deals so they canceled them. (Reminds me of Target's Fizzbin method, who have been known to change the rules of their sales, coupons, and deals on the spot if they feel too many people are taking advantage of them and customers are making out like bandits.) I even specifically asked “so you’re basically canceling orders of people who were giving you their business and getting too good of a deal?”

"Too many people were taking advantage of the deals and making too many of our items to go out of stock," she replied, trying to dodge the question.

"All but ONE item was clearly marked as in stock when I placed my order, why shouldn't my order be filled as promised when I provided you with my credit card info, which you now possess?" I argued. "I even received an email confirmation stating the items were in stock."

I got no where. I got no better answer. Personally, I don't think that is any way to run a business. Some people got their orders shipped, some didn't. How they decided whose order to cancel, I don't know, but needless to say, I'm annoyed and miffed. I'm not so much miffed that I didn't get some stellar deals, though I would've loved to and would've not only given them my continued repeat business, but I would've raved about them to everyone I know...or don't know. I am mostly miffed that they now possess my credit card info and considering the experience I've had with them (this was my first ever experience with them) they are on my "I do not trust" list. Do I doubt their legitimacy? I don't know...probably not, but I can't personally vouch for it either considering my one and only experience with them turned out to be a dud that never came through. I can't exactly tell you folks, my readers, "hey, Medco is great, they had great deals, and I got my order, look!" like I had wanted to and intended to.

It was a good thing I used a temporary credit card number provided by my bank, (I love those things!) so I've went in and closed out that card number so that it can't be used anymore, but still, it's a pain. As bummed as I am about not getting my order and not scoring some awesome deals, I have no doubt I will get over it and I'm not going to miss my order. It's a'ight. I don't really think I'm the one missing out here.

I apologized to the customer service rep I spoke with for being really annoyed, even though I did my absolute best to keep my cool. I fully understand that she's caught in the middle and put in a tough position where she's dealing with all sorts of angry customers...or in my case, potential and former customer, yelling at her. I don't think she needs it from me. However, I made it very clear to her that I hope she'll consider showing my distaste and distrust of Medco to her management especially considering this was my first experience with them. You know what they say, first impressions are lasting ones. I made it clear to her that I do not trust her company with my personal information including my address and credit card info. I hope she will pass it onto management. I hope they'll care. I'm not optimistic though.

Oh yeah, and remember my request to have the backorder shipping cost waived? I received an email this morning informing me that my order was past the editing phase (as in they were processing it) so they couldn't waive the fee, but they put a $1.99 credit on my account...I guess they decided to pull out the Fizzbin card and mass cancel people's orders? I find the credit comical now because I see it sitting on my account....one that I do not have intentions of using in the future because my confidence and trust in them is non existent. Thanks, I guess?

So to my readers, if you tried to take advantage of the deal, I hope it works out for you. If not, I apologize for getting you excited about it.

Steals! - Medco Health Store

I really debated on whether or not to share this with you guys because it was a bit of a frustrating pain in the ass to do. One minute things worked as described, the next it didn't, then it worked again, then I had to cancel my order and reorder making one item I really wanted backordered, and I had to pay extra shipping for. (Shipping costs are a huge pet peeve with me since they are rarely refundable if you return something.)

My hope in the end is that my order goes through and I get what I ordered. If that's the case, I'll share my success with you. Till then, I'll let you decide if you want to go through the trouble of scoring some potentially AMAZING deals.

So there's Medco Health Store. They're an online pharmacy if you will, that's in conjunction with drugstore.com. (I know this because when I went to reorder something, they told me I couldn't do it because the deal was only good one per household, including same household with drugstore.com accounts.) Right now (and I don't know for how long) they have some steals going on:

Aim Toothpaste, Whitening, Mint Gel or Aim Ultra Mint $0.99 ea
Buy 4 Aim items, save $4 = 4 FREE Tubes of toothpaste
Pepsodent Toothpaste $0.89 ea
Buy 4 Pepsodent items, save $4 = 4 FREE Tubes of toothpaste
Butler Dental Floss, Fresh Mint, 140 yards $1.19 ea
Buy 5 Butler select products, save $5 - $0.19/ea or $.95/5
Carmex Cold Sore Reliever and Lip Moisturizer, Jar $1.49 ea
Buy 3, Save $3
Final cost– $0.49/ea
Band-Aid Butterfly Closures, Medium (10 ct) $1.79 ea
$2/1 instant coupon– FREE

Chapstick Lip Balm $0.99 ea
Buy 4 and save $2 with the instant coupon - $0.49/ea

K-Y Jelly, Personal Lubricant 4 oz $3.69 ea
$5/1 instant coupon– FREE ****

OR (you may not get both, it's either or for the deal)

K-Y Warming Jelly Personal Lubricant $5.29 ea
$5/1 instant coupon – $0.29 ****

Just to name a few. There are more stuff on sale, but frankly, after the trouble I had with the order, I feared that my sale items would disappear on me while I shopped, so I only snagged what I absolutely wanted and didn't bother to shop around. Rumor has it there are some Gillette shave gel (for men) and Nivea for Men body wash that's for a steal too, but I didn't look at those. I looked at some rumored Pampers baby wipes, and the price had increased from what was mentioned in my source.
**** Apparently between the time I started this post to the time I finished it, the deal for K-Y Jellies has changed. They are now buy 2 get $2 off so the deal is not as sweet as it was.

Here's what you need to do:

Find the product either by searching their site or by clicking the links above. (You may have to clear your browser history, cache, etc...I did, not sure if it helped or not.) If all works well, it'll take you to a list of items that qualifies for the instant coupons and you can add it to your cart from the list. Otherwise, there should be a link next to the picture of the product mentioning the promo. Click on that and it will take you to a list of qualifying products that you can add to your cart.

I've read that some people had the price change on them while the items were in their carts (or disappeared.) I didn't experience that, but what I did experience was either the items not showing up on search at all, or the link appears to be broken so it shows an error message of sorts. I wanted to score some Pampers wipes. My source (which I'll link at the end of this post) said it was on sale for $3.49. I clicked on the link and it's not on sale at all. I also wanted the Aim toothpaste...that didn't show up at all. Neither did the dental floss, so I placed my order with just Chapstick, Band-Aids (which were in stock), and Carmex. An hour later, on a whim, I went to check and behold, all of the other items I wanted...all the toothpaste were available! So I went to add it to my order. I couldn't. I had to cancel my order first, then place it again with the new items, only now the Band-Aids were out of stock and I now have to pay an extra $1.99 backorder shipping! Not that it's a huge deal, but it's an extra $2 I shouldn't have had to pay so I've emailed them to see if they're willing to waive the fee. I doubt it, but it never hurts to try.
I'm finding that their system is REALLY fickle. Just take a look at my savings for example. Again, not a huge deal but it is confusing and shows just how weird their pricing is and how much it fluctuates in a matter of just a couple of hours. (The screen shots were taken about 2 hours apart.) The first screen shot is of my email confirmation. It shows I have a savings of $36.11:

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The second screen shot is one I took when deciding to make this post, not knowing my savings would fluctuate after I've placed my order:

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Thankfully, my order total did not change. I'm not sure what to make of it, and at this point, I'm not even sure if they'll fulfill my order. I hope they will. My source has ordered from them before with similar stellar deals and it was fulfilled. My hope is that they won't look at my request to have my backorder shipping waived, laugh at it, look at my order and say, "screw you, I'm canceling your whole order because that's just too good of a deal you're getting."

So there you have it. It's up to you if you want to give it a shot and see what kind of deals you can snag. Like I said, Medco seems to be affiliated or powered by drugstore.com, whom I have shopped with on several occasions in the past and trust. A lot of their site even reminds me of drugstore.com from their design, prices (I compared the Band-Aid to drugstore.com and their prices were identical. The deal was nearly identical as well) to check out process and account review. They also give you reward points just like drugstore.com. They are also VeriSign Secured. I'm not so sure they're a bad deal, or even fickle, it's just you have to act fast and smart to get their deals. A little persistence, give and take doesn't hurt either. They certainly aren't what I'm used to in terms of shopping experience, but it could also be that they're a different type of merchant as well. I'm not ready to fully pass judgment yet, but I am alert. If you do decide to go for this deal, please do keep me posted. I'd love to know what you scored and how great of a deal you got. I will definitely keep you posted if and when I get my order fulfilled along with the details. :)


Source: Hip2Save


Update: I received a response from Medco customer service apologizing for the tech glitches, but unfortunately my order is past the edit stage so they couldn't waive the $1.99 backorder charge. They did, however, issue a $1.99 credit on my account for me to use on my next order. I will further update when my order arrives.
June 24, 2010 1:22pm CDT