Melbran Pharmacy

I’ve been using this pharmacy for over 4 years by now. I had been on various insurances throughout this time and had many random medical needs. They have always been super easy to order from, cheap and friendly. Can’t ask for more.

This is the place for you if you only need half your prescription. For example:
1. Your ailment only affects you from the first through the fifteen of every month
2. Your ailment only affects you on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and every other Saturday
3. You have multiple personalities and only one of them has the diagnosis.
4. You got a prescription from a doctor who has dysgraphia and can’t remember numbers correctly, and they always double the number they’re trying to write.
5. Your doctor is over-​prescribing and instead of letting your doctor know, you would rather pay the full amount for half the pills.
Maybe there are people who enjoy paying twice the price for stuff. I can’t really think of any examples of those people, but I’ll let you know if I think of one.
I’m not one of those people.
Is it common practice to count your pills in front of your pharmacist? It shall be common practice for me from now on. The response I got when I called them was essentially that I’m a liar and there’s no way for me to prove they’re wrong. My doctor tried to advocate on my behalf but she couldn’t get it fixed. So, whoever has my Schedule 2 drugs, enjoy!
I feel dumb for being polite to them on the phone. What exactly did I thank them for? Stealing $ 87 worth of pills from me?
This was my first and last transaction at Melbran.
Count your pills, folks.
For your information, the people responsible for oversight in this area is the NY State Board of Pharmacy:

Melbran is awesome! The people at the front desk are always very helpful and the pharmacist has quickly answered my questions whenever I’ve had any. Because it’s not a big chain pharmacy, I feel like you get more personalized service and they know me by name now :)
The only downside is that it can get crowded at the end of the day.

I’ve come to this pharmacy two or three times to pick up non monthly prescriptions. This place is meant to be a pharmacy and only a pharmacy. You can just walk in with an insurance card (or not) and a doctor’s rx. There are no aisles to peruse while you wait. Thankfully the wait is never long. I usually drop off on my break and tell them that I will be back at a certain time. There are a few chairs when you step inside though if you do need to sit but I suggest maybe taking a little walk or grabbing a coffee or tea for the twenty minutes or so that you have.
The staff are very friendly and helpful. They also speak spanish for those more comfortable with that language.

I’ve never experienced a pharmacy line as long as the one I saw at Melbran Pharmacy in my life. This includes the big boys, CVS, Duane Reade, etc. The line was almost out of the door when I arrived. I called Melbran in the AM to see if they had my medication in stock. They did. After 20 minutes of wasting my time in the pharmacy I found out that certain medications (or all, I don’t know) are only for COLUMBIA students. WTF! No one mentioned this on the phone when I called earlier. Thanks for wasting an hour of my life.

There is something about large chain pharmacies that scare the bejesus out of me. Growing up in a small town, we always got our medications from the local Canaan Pharmacy, with the pharmacists in the back that knew your name, your life story, and greeted you with a smile. Why would I want to go anywhere else?
After a recent traumatic health scare (…okay, not really. I just wanted the sympathy…), I needed two prescriptions filled. In the area of my uptown office, I thought to myself, «Great. Rite Aid is my ONLY choice.» My nurse practitioner, however, recommended I go to Melbran Pharmacy.
I am glad that I did.
This is a no-​frills place, with eight seats in the front, a large counter, and two women taking care of business behind it. Very streamlined, relatively quick, and I had my scripts filled in about 15 minutes. When one of the women ran across a snag in my coverage (…I know I’ve seen that CVS /​Caremark prescription card floating around a random purse of mine before. Goodness knows where I’ve shoved it since…), she kindly was able to help me when I gave her some additional insurance information, regardless. Lovely staff, indeed.
It’s rare that I need a script filled. It’s been 9 years since my last. (Hurray for good health!) However, if I need some magic pills to cure me in the future, I know where to get them. I refuse to be one of those NYC Unilocalers that have had traumatic CVS /​Duane Reade /​Rite Aid /​Walgreens pharmacy experiences. NEVER!
When it comes to scripts, it should just be simple and stream-​lined. Melbran is just that.
Perfect.

This is a pharmacy only – no front-​of-​store stuff, no frills.
They are super quick: I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than 20 minutes.
The staff often seems overwhelmed and stressed to me, but despite that, they are cordial and professional.