Rite Aid Drug Store
I often
wonder what is so difficult about customer service. Why would anyone involved in a service
industry choose to be an asshole when with the same amount of energy, they could be polite?
I have a
prescription that I fill every month. We
call in the prescription to a Rite Aid that is several towns over, where I used to live.
This is a prescription that I get six pills a month for a low, covered by insurance,
price. The prescription is for twenty
pills every four months. For two
years I was able to get twenty pills every four months at an insurance covered
discount. Then one day I picked up the
prescription and they only gave me six pills covered by insurance. I paid out of pocket for the remaining
fourteen pills…about $400 vs. $20. I
later found that insurance paid for all the pills, but for some reason only in
lots of six every month. So now I order
every month; but for two years I over-spent a total of $3200 more than I needed because they couldn’t explain the
ridiculous insurance plan to me.
OK, so I’m
not real fond of this Pharmacy, but I still use them anyway.
Last
Thursday we called in this month’s order.
Generally, we could order at the store and in an hour or two it would be
filled, but I was in no hurry so I did not go for the pick-up until
Saturday. The pharmacy is about 20
minutes away, but we are usually shopping in the area so I still use this
store. Saturday I made the 20-minute
trip, waited in line for 10 minutes and when I gave the clerk my name for
pick-up she couldn’t find the order. She
looked it up on the computer and then in a voice that indicated she was frustrated by my
presence told me,
“This order is not due in until
Tuesday…we have your phone number to message when it comes in don’t you check to
see there was no message?”
NO! I didn’t check. For something that ordinarily gets filled the
same day, wouldn’t you think they would message you that the delivery is
delayed? If the computer told her the
pills would be there on Tuesday, why wouldn’t they give me that message as soon
as they had it?
Well they
don’t. I guess I should have
called. Maybe I’m an idiot, but how
friggin difficult is it to say,
“I’m sorry Mr. Hagy, that
prescription is not in until Tuesday. We
will send you a message to confirm when it is in, so sorry for the
misunderstanding.”
No, instead
she was pissy, and she wanted to make sure I knew it was my fault and that I
should feel like an idiot.
I didn’t
respond to the clerk’s question, I simply turned away and left without a comment. I will pick up my pills on Tuesday and never
visit that pharmacy again.
On Monday I
got a message on my phone that the prescription would be available on Tuesday.
Thank you,
thank you so much…dick heads!
When the corgi was on insulin for his diabetes, before we realized we could get it cheaper at WalMart without a prescription, we would have his insulin and syringes called into Rite Aid from the vet. When we called to refill them, the automated voice thingy always told us when they would be ready. They also charged twice (or more) what WalMart charged without a prescription and we just had to go to the pharmacy and wait our turn in line.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm trying to figure out what medicine you might be taking that would be dispensed in such a fashion..........
betty
I have a similar set up with Walgreens and had a similar situation. The automated call came like it always comes. I checked it once. All it said was that my prescription was available for pick up. Perfect. I go. I pick it up. No problem. Well, apparently over time their automated msg changed and they added a confirmation option. I didn't confirm and when I got there to pick it up the woman at the window was a total bitch to me because I hadn't confirmed. - Customer service is rare.
ReplyDeleteWhen you take an animal to get it pregnant, it's called servicing it. When you went to the drugstore, you wanted customer service. Either way, the customer gets screwed!!
ReplyDeleteI hate hoops, boy, do I hate hoops and everybody expects you to jump them to spend your money in their store.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same in the UK, pissy attendants, the lot. My opinion is that things changed for the worse when technology took over.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a perfectly ridiculous system to me, why not say right away about the delay?
ReplyDeleteI can understand an occasional grumpy day if a service assistant is having a headache or some other trouble, but not consistently. I tried to always be cheerful for my customers, if I wasn't I'd always apologise for being under the weather, mostly during hayfever season.
Good customer service is so rare these days. When I see it, I'm actually shocked!
ReplyDeleteI avoid stores where the service has been rude, but eventually I ran out of places to shop. Atlas it saves money.
ReplyDeleteyeah. cranky people are the worst... right, cranky?
ReplyDeleteMaybe they think they aren't paid enough to be nice?
ReplyDeleteI suspect we've all endured this same situation and some more than once. There's a little clause in the system that says substitutions are allowed, and once they substituted a brand not covered by insurance, because they were out of the other for a day. Instead of zero copay, I had an outrageous bill for a brand not covered. They could tell me. I think they could afford a dedicated person to handle the phone all day, explaining and solving these self inflicted problems. Like you, I walked away in silence, came home and transferred thirty years of loyalty to a new drug store.
ReplyDeleteLast month we called in the hubs eye drop prescription and were told it would be ready by noon that same day...we showed up five minutes early and were given a lecture on how busy they are and that things can't be ready until the given time. When she was done ripping a strip off me I said, well, it's noon now. Is it ready?
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! Good for you!
DeleteYep, there are a lot of these clods out there. They are miserable and I really think they want you to be just as miserable as they are.
ReplyDeleteI would never get anything filled at that drug store. Oh the horror stories I've heard about them from some of my medical friends.
I'm glad you're changing from that pharmacy.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
A frustrating incident. I went to pick up a prescription recently and the doctor had made a typo saying I should take 30 pills a day for one day instead on one pill a day for thirty days. The pharmacist called the doctor who explained it was a typo but they still wouldn't give me the pills until a new FAX came in.
ReplyDeleteWhen I called a doctor's billing company (for the 3rd time) to have my newly-married-and-moved-out daughter's statements sent to her new address so I didn't have to keep dropping them off, I was asked, "Why? Don't you get along with her?" Yeah. And then I asked for a name so I could "follow up" if this fourth request wasn't processed. She gave me her first name. I asked for last one, too. She wouldn't supply it. I asked to speak to her manager. She "wasn't in." Although the call was a contentious one, the bills finally did start to arrive at the correct address. It's easier to stay and fight when it's over the phone!
ReplyDeleteYikes. I only use Walmart but so far they have been fabulous and have gone the extra mile for me several times.
ReplyDeleteNormally, all a place of business, restaurant or what ever has to do is be rude once. I don't let them know but I find a new place to go. I probably would be better served to have let management know. Maybe you could leave a copy of your post on their website comments section.
I use cvs and Walgreens. I scan barcode on bottle and they send a text when it's ready to pick up.
ReplyDeleteI would change pharmacy too and sent a terse note to management.
Good for you for changing pharmacies. I used to have a good pharmacy with polite helpful people but we left them when my wife found an online pharmacy where we could get the same meds at no cost to us.
ReplyDeleteAs my husband and I get older, we tend to get crankier about bad/non-existing customer service. We disconnected our cable almost two years ago because of it, we ditched our lawn service, and we're switching our car and homeowner's insurance to a new company right now. We still can vote with our wallets!
ReplyDeleteWas the clerk a young special snowflake? Those are the ones I notice most lacking in customer service skills. The elder ones are polite, and even count back the change into your palm, rather than hand you a wad of bills and coins and say, "Here ya go." They seem put out if you don't use plastic.
ReplyDelete