U.S. Consumers Report Weeks-Long Delays Resolving Pharmacy, Telecom and Appliance Issues

Guardian readers across the United States described repeated failures by automated customer-service systems that left prescriptions unfilled for weeks, fraudulent charges unresolved and appliances sitting unrepaired. Melanie Cooley, an Arizona educator, said her local CVS informed her at the last minute that it would not fill a daily prescription for six weeks.

She located a pharmacy in another state that had the medication in stock, arranged shipment to Indianapolis and waited for express delivery that arrived days late and went to the wrong mailbox.

It took almost three weeks and help from friends and family in three states to obtain one bottle of pills, leaving her off the medication for two weeks. Carol Murdock, a former healthcare executive in Nashville, said she spent an entire day attempting to reach a human representative to dispute a fraudulent $629 charge on her AT&T bill for a phone line she does not own.

The bill remains outstanding.

AT&T did not reply to The Guardian’s requests for comment. A California tech employee reported spending days attempting to reroute a Rebel baby stroller through FedEx after the item failed to arrive as promised. After multiple phone calls, emails, contradictory information and additional charges, she asked a friend to bring the stroller on a flight.

Josh Dayberry from Indiana said his new Samsung oven and range stopped working shortly after purchase. He spent hours being transferred on the phone and additional hours waiting for a repairman who never arrived, then purchased a cheaper range to cook Thanksgiving dinner. The original appliances remain in his garage after further hours-long calls.