SOCASTEE, SC (WMBF) – It’s a bitter pill to swallow as the sudden closure of the Socastee Pharmacy has left some customers having great difficulty getting their medications.

“Why in the world do you do this to your customers?!” said Jennifer Ross, a Socastee Pharmacy customer.

After the Socastee chain of stores closed its store without warning, many long-time customers are expressing their frustration.

On Thursday, several customers came to the pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions, but were rudely awakened when signs were put up saying “The pharmacy is closed.”

“This kind of thing doesn’t happen overnight and the door was basically closed overnight,” Ross said.

“I thought something was wrong, but I came here anyway,” said Richard Maclary, a customer at Socastee Pharmacy.

A former employee told WMBF News he, too, was unaware of the closure until signs were put up on Tuesday.

“We saw this post and the sign that Socastee Pharmacy is permanently closed. What in the world happened? We were just there,” Ross said.

Magdy Hanna, co-owner of the pharmacy, told WMBF News that a store robbery occurred several months ago and another co-owner was unwilling to implement the necessary security measures after the incident.

He believes the pharmacy lost several technicians because of this decision.

“Without good safety measures and without the safety in a pharmacy, it is quite difficult to do our job as pharmacists,” said Hanna.

Hanna also said that in South Carolina, you can’t just close a pharmacy, but that owners have to transfer their patients to a new pharmacy first. He said the Socastee Walgreens pharmacy has been working with them in that process, but claimed that part of their agreement with Walgreens was that they had to keep the closure confidential until it was actually closed.

As Hanna explained, their hands were tied.

“I saw the Walgreens sign, when I called it said that and I thought something was wrong,” Maclary said. “My first unpleasant experience here.”

Several customers told WMBF News that they suffered headaches and did not receive the necessary prescriptions due to the lack of communication.

“That means extra work for us, our doctors and the pharmacy we go to. They have to call and pick up the prescription, and in that case we have to contact the doctors, which can take a day or two to get an appointment, and then another day or two to get the medication,” Ross said.

Hanna said they never expected their business to end this way, calling the situation a “regrettable incident.”

As Socastee Pharmacy continues to vacate its location and work to terminate its lease, customers continue to feel they should have been informed that Walgreens is their new pharmacy.

“Your employees had to know and your customers had to know and should have known. Why would you do that?! These people supported you and your company,” Ross said.

The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Socastee Pharmacy has filed a closure form.

WMBF News is still working to get answers from Walgreens as to why customers were not notified of the transfer.

Hanna said customers can change their pharmacy at will.

Stay with WMBF News for updates.

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