CVS
CVS

NEW YORK — CVS Pharmacy customers across the United States reported problems reaching the company's mobile app, signing in to their accounts and using its website Monday, according to outage tracking service Downdetector. Some users said the trouble also reached store counters and checkout lanes.

Downdetector said on social media that user reports showed problems with CVS Pharmacy beginning at 11:22 a.m. EDT on Sept. 28 and asked affected customers to share how they were being affected, using the hashtag #CvsPharmacyDown. Graphs on the tracking site showed the number of complaints climbing sharply shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern, with hundreds of users submitting reports as the morning went on.

As of early Monday afternoon, CVS had not publicly confirmed the outage, explained what caused it or said when full service would return. No official statement about the disruption could be found on the company's website or its customer service accounts.

App problems dominate complaints

The CVS Pharmacy mobile app drew the largest share of complaints. According to Downdetector data cited by outlets tracking the disruption, 51% of users who filed reports said they had trouble with the app. Another 34% reported login failures, and 12% said they had problems with the website.

The breakdown suggests the disruption was concentrated in the company's digital services, the tools millions of customers use to refill prescriptions, check order status, receive pickup alerts, manage ExtraCare rewards and book appointments at MinuteClinic locations.

Customers who cannot sign in may be blocked from features tied to their accounts, including prescription histories, refill requests and digital coupons. People who rely on the app to confirm that a prescription is ready may have had no simple way to check without calling or visiting a store.

Reports of trouble at stores

While most complaints involved online services, at least one customer described problems at a physical store. In a comment posted to Downdetector and reported by The Sunday Guardian, the user wrote, "cant even get my meds," adding that the store's self-checkout payment pad would accept cards only by magnetic stripe, not by chip or contactless tap.

It was not clear whether the in-store payment issue was linked to the problems with the app, logins and website, or whether it was an isolated local failure. Downdetector data did not include a complete list of affected cities or states.

Outage trackers rely on reports submitted by users, and the figures do not necessarily reflect the full scale of a disruption. Some customers may have been able to use the app and website normally, while others encountered errors when opening the app, signing in or trying to use specific features.

What customers can do

Customers who urgently need medication and cannot get through online can call or visit their local CVS pharmacy directly. Pharmacy staff can often check the status of a prescription, process a refill or answer questions even when the consumer-facing app is not working.

Those having trouble with the app can try closing and reopening it, checking their internet connection or waiting a short time before trying to sign in again. Website users can refresh the page or try a different browser. Shoppers who run into problems with a self-checkout machine or payment terminal can ask store employees to help complete the purchase at a staffed register.

Customers can also monitor CVS Pharmacy's official social media accounts, where the company has posted updates during past outages.

Not the first disruption

Monday's reports follow a string of technical problems that have disrupted CVS services over the past two years.

On Oct. 21, 2025, a system outage prevented some CVS pharmacies from filling prescriptions. Customers complained on social media that they could not pick up medications and were turned away for tests and flu shots. The company acknowledged "a known system outage" in replies to customers on X and said it was working to fix a network connection problem affecting some of its pharmacies.

A company spokesperson said at the time that most pharmacies were still able to fill prescriptions. By about 3:30 p.m. Eastern that day, CVS said the problem had been fixed, while cautioning in a statement that "Some patients may experience minor delays as stores come back online."

That outage came one day after a major Amazon Web Services disruption knocked out a large number of apps and websites worldwide. CVS said its problem was not related to the AWS failure.

A month earlier, in late September 2025, CVS had also told customers on X that it was dealing with a known system outage at certain locations.

In 2024, CVS told customers that an outage at a third-party company was affecting its pharmacies nationwide and that it did not know when the problem would be fixed. The company advised patients at the time to contact their pharmacy directly to discuss options.

A key link in the health care chain

Disruptions at CVS can have wide effects because of the company's size. The Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health operates more than 9,000 pharmacy locations in the United States, along with a large pharmacy benefits management business and the Aetna health insurance unit.

The chain has also taken on additional patients in recent years. In 2025, following the second bankruptcy filing and closure of Rite Aid, CVS took over dozens of former Rite Aid and Bartell Drug stores in the Pacific Northwest and received prescription files from hundreds of shuttered Rite Aid pharmacies in 15 states.

As more patients move their prescriptions to a smaller number of large chains, outages at those companies can affect access to medication for a larger share of the public. Many customers depend on digital tools not only for convenience but for timely refills of medications that cannot be skipped.

Technology experts have noted that outages at major retailers and health companies highlight how dependent everyday services have become on cloud-based and networked systems, and how quickly a single failure can ripple from a phone screen to the pharmacy counter.

What comes next

There was no confirmed timeline Monday for when CVS services would return to normal. The length of the disruption will likely depend on its cause and whether it is limited to the consumer app and login systems or extends to store and pharmacy operations.

In past outages, CVS has posted updates on social media and responded to individual customers. Patients whose prescriptions were delayed during previous disruptions were told they could expect some additional wait times even after systems came back online.

Customers with time-sensitive prescriptions are encouraged to contact their pharmacy directly rather than relying solely on the app while problems persist.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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