Channel 25 reports that a local Covid testing site across the river in Needham called the “Center For Covid Control” has been generating a raft of complaints from customers.
The town of Needham has gotten so many complaints that they reached out to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Attorney General in a letter. It says in part:
“Town officials have become aware of complaints that persons who have submitted to testing at this site are receiving results days or weeks later than promised, or sometimes not at all.”
The Needham testing site is part of a national chain that has been receiving complaints like this and worse at their sites all over the country. A Newsweek article is full of accusations of false negative results, fraud, and scams and says that the chain has received a rare F grade from the Better Business Bureau.
In times of tumult and change there are always scammers ready to step in take advantage of the situation …. so do be careful
Another story about the site from Boston.com
It was clear from the start that the PCR tests at the “Center for COVID Control” were just a scam to bill insurers and Medicaid, because the place always conceded that they had to send the kits to an out-of-state lab that would never be able to provide results in any reasonable timeframe. I emailed a couple of ace Globe reporters (Kay Lazar and Sean Murphy) about this back in November but of course never got any acknowledgment.
To be fair, we used them for a rapid antigen test a couple of months ago and had downloadable results in about an hour. But when we were next in line for the test, a woman came running in with no mask, cut in front of us, sat down, and proudly proclaimed “I tested positive for COVID this morning so I’m back for another test!”
We held our breath and ran back outside for some gasps of air before coming back in and sitting down at a table on the other side of the room from where the lady had been. The proctor then invited us to sit at the lady’s table, to which we took a hard pass – “Um, she said she had COVID so we’d prefer to stay at this table,” said I.
“Oh yeah, actually I should probably disinfect that table, thanks for reminding me,” said the proctor.
Although I don’t think a vacuum cleaner has ever passed through the establishment’s doors, it does have one notable attribute that most V14’ers will greatly appreciate: a strong odeur de pot.
Their customers must have read this report ;-)
That rejoinder was pure Acapulco Gold, Jerry!
Speaking of going to pot, [sorry, couldn’t resist], how about Walgreens? With only days notice they closed their Newton Centre store and completely screwed thousands of local residents who depended on the pharmacy for their medications.
Now the Walgreens pharmacy in 4-Corners has long lines that often keep customers standing in close proximity for more than a half hour. On several occasions I have waited more than 45 minutes to pick up a medication that had been sent in by my doctor, only to have a pharmacist tell me they were “too busy” to fill it, and asking me to wait even longer or return the next day. Disorganization is never a good thing at a pharmacy.
Adding insult to injury, the 4-Corners Walgreens is filthy. Trash on the floor, overflowing trash receptacles. Even the outside of the store is often a mess.
I feel sorry for the workers at the 4 Corners Walgreens. When the Newton Centre store closed, Walgreens did not send any additional pharmacy staff to 4 Corners. The pharmacy staff there are overloaded and dealing with upset customers because they can’t handle twice the workload with only the same staff they had before. The staff are overwhelmed and upset and miserable.
I’ve been a customer of this Walgreens for many years. In the past, I was very please with the very caring pharmacists who knew me and would notice potential problems or take extra steps to be helpful. It’s disgraceful that corporate has put them in this situation.