Rite Aid … Phooey!
About a year ago, I wrote a piece lamenting the closing of a local pharmacy, following its having been gobbled up by a huge “drug store” chain. From that point on, I would have to have my prescriptions filled by one of the huge pharmacy chain stores that I did not mention at the time.
Well, now it’s time to mention it. It was Rite Aid.
My experience over the last year with Rite Aid has been less than satisfactory. On more than one occasion, I was told that the store was “out of†the prescribed medication. This is a store that has more than 100 kinds of shampoo, but they are out of the medicine I needed? (It was not some obscure medicine used to treat rare disease. It was more like a deli running out of cheese.)
On other occasions, I had to patiently wait while the pharmacist struggled to find me in the store’s mammoth database. This, of course, required me to give my name, address and phone number a half dozen times.
In addition, there are the “Big Store Rules.†According to the Rules, one has to drop a prescription off at one counter (the “Drop Off Counterâ€) and pick up a prescription at another counter (the “Pick Up Counter), which is about fifteen paces away.
One time, before I was aware of the “Big Store Rules,†I walked up to the Pick Up Counter and said to the lone pharmacist (a young woman who appeared to have graduated from pharmacy school earlier that day) and said that I wanted to have a prescription filled. When I tried to hand her the prescription, she told me that I had to go to the other counter (i.e. the Drop Off Counter). Mind you, there was no one else either dropping off or picking up prescriptions. So, I walked fifteen paces to my right, and she walked fifteen paces to her left so that we could meet at the “Drop Off Counter”. Then and only then would she accept the prescription. This could have been a Monty Python skit.
Today may have been the clincher.
Before proceeding to work this morning, I was at the doctor’s office for regular visit. At the conclusion of the visit, I received a prescription. The Doc’s office graciously offered to call the prescription in to the pharmacy so that I could go directly to work from the office and pick up the prescription at the end of the day. Great idea.
After work, I proceeded to the gigantic Rite Aid pharmacy to pick up my prescription. Knowing the Big Store Rules, I walked smartly up to the “Pick Up Counter.†I told the teen-aged looking pharmacist that I was there to pick up a prescription that had been called in by Doctor So and So earlier that day. She proceeded to the alphabetical bins in which the finished prescriptions are placed. I could see that the bin that bore the first letter of my last name contained only one white bag. I knew that there was trouble when the child-pharmacist picked up the lone white bag, examined it and then went to speak with the other pharmacist, who must have been at least six months older.
Pharmacist Number Two looked at the same bag (as if the name on the bag had changed in the interim) and then asked me, “You said that your doctor called this in?†I replied in the affirmative. The kiddy-pharmacist then asked, “When?â€
I replied, “approximately 9 o’clock this morning.â€
Ms. Cabbage Patch Kid Pharmacist inquired, “Are you sure?â€
I replied that I was quite sure. (I know this to be true because the person in the Doc’s office who actually called the prescription in is a friend of mine — one of the Usual Suspects who happens to work in the Doc’s office.)
“What is the prescription for?†she asked, expecting, I assume, that I would tell her something like, “Them’s the pills for my epizoodic.†I fooled her by giving her the name of the drug and the dosage.
Then we did the name, address, and telephone thing.
She clicked away on the computer and finally turned in my direction and said, “I have bad news.â€
I was wondering what kind of bad news pharmacists are called upon to deliver, when I asked, “What is the problem?â€
The barely post-pubescent pharmacist said, “They called the prescription in to the other store.†(That would be the other gargantuan Rite Aid store on the other side of town.)
I really didn’t feel like driving to the other side of town during the rush hour, so I asked â€Can you fill the prescription here?†It seemed like a no-brainer to me. Hell, it’s the same chain, and both stores have all my information in the same database.
“Well, sir. You’ll have to wait, and it will take a lot of time, because we have to call over to the other store and have them cancel the prescription and then we would have to fill it here. By the time we do all that you could drive across town to pick up the prescription.â€
I grumbled, “Are you serious?â€
“Yes sir, the other store already ‘billed out’ the prescription, and all that has to be canceled. It takes lots of time.†Obviously, she did not want to be bothered, even though there were no other customers at either of the counters.
When it was clear that I was schnitzled, I turned to go. At that moment, the teeny-bopper pharmacist said, “Oh, and when you are ready to have this refilled, you should call over to the other store and ask them to transfer the prescription to this store, and we will be able to take care of the refill.â€
I thought as I plodded out of Rite Aid Number One to my car so that I could drive to Rite Aid Number Two to pick up my Rite Aid prescription, “What? I should call to the other store and arrange to transfer my prescription? How screwed up is that? Isn’t this something that Rite Aid can and should take care of?â€
I guess it hasn’t occurred to the dipshits at Rite Aid that I am the customer and not one of the blue smocked schmucks who work in the shampoo palace that masquerades as a pharmacy.
None of this ever happened to me when Mr. Nestor and his daughter ran the real drug store in town – the one that vanished about a year ago.
Yep, that’s what happened to our local pharmacy as well, and THEY even delivered knowing we had an incapacitated woman here! They had our business for freakin’ YEARS! Then, some fools broke in, threatened to kill everyone and take their Oxycontin. I say fools because a)they were closed, no one was there to kill, and b) they admitted this only after they were caught by being even furthur stupider than dirt. The folks at the little store sold the business after that and now work at, you guessed it. Funny thing, I’ve never had to hear them apologize to me about medicine mixups before the store sale, only since.
Comment by MaryAnn — March 16, 2004 @ 2:33 am
It’s the company AND the people, Jim.
The Wahlgreen’s up the street from me?
First that is not a small outfit.
Second I work second shift so you might have some idea I was not dealing with the first string
pharmacist.
BUT when the guy saw me mulling over some vitamins he came out behind the counter to see if he could be of help.
I was looking for some vitamin C not to expensive and also more soluable. I like a little lemon in my hot tea and I have discovered that vitamins are cheaper than lemons LOL.
He got a kick out of the idea.
Comment by Dan Kauffman — March 16, 2004 @ 6:41 am
First let me say that I am truly sorry to hear about your bout of epizoodic, one of the least understood maladies of our time. And, I, too, have been forced to do the 15-step “Other Counter” dance. You can almost see them change hats; they are truly masters of their little domains. “I can’t hand you napkins from here, FDA regulations; I have to go to the napkin-dispensing area.” I mock them. Mock them, I say!
Excellent tale. Deli out of cheese. Snork.
Comment by topdawg — March 16, 2004 @ 7:41 am
Heh – might be worth it to drive out of your way if there is another pharmacy you could go to. They sound like a pack of morons at Rite Aid.
Comment by Teresa — March 16, 2004 @ 11:21 am
Sounds like you’re running into the same problem that we are here in Montana. The BigWalledStore© has been forcing the small pharmacies out of business for years and if you think that Rite-Aid is staffed by a bunch of yahoos you’re in for a treat at the BigWalledStore©.
The only requirements to work behind the counter are that you haven’t had a shop accident in the past so you have all ten digits(hopefully on your hands), you are able to answer all queries with a blank vacant stare and respond “I’ll have to ask the pharmacist about that†to EVERY DAMN QUESTION posed to you.
Hopefully your prescription has a pill count no larger than 10 or you will be waiting and waiting and waiting…
Well, you get the idea.
BTW, I get better customer service at my local VA clinic if that gives you an idea about the BigWalledStore©.
Comment by Randy — March 16, 2004 @ 4:06 pm
This is why I like the pharmacy I go to here. It is in a grocery, so is a part of a chain, but they operate like the independent I grew up with. Friendly, helpful, and more. If they are out of something and it is needed now, they call other stores to get it right then. Out and needed soon? They have it the next day. Something no longer made? They have researched replacements before telling me, so that they can make suggestions. Good people, and no problems. Would that all were like them.
Comment by Laughing Wolf — March 16, 2004 @ 4:29 pm
Oh yeah. Three years shopping in one place, and then their *wholesaler*, the wholesaler for the whole *universe* except for Walgreen’s, stopped carrying my drugs.
So I was stuck with Walgreen’s.
At least it wasn’t Wal-Mart — count your blessings.
Big Business — a Good Thing For America, and Scroo U D’Customer.
Comment by meg — March 16, 2004 @ 9:05 pm
I’m in Germany, and here you have to get a prescription for Tylenol and have it filled at a pharmacy. Need a watch battery? You must find a watch battery store. I happily waved good-bye to WalMart when I left the USofA, and now I would almost give my right arm to find one.
Comment by Amy — March 17, 2004 @ 6:26 am
Jim–
When you write stuff like this, or your encounter with Dell, I find myself almost hoping that you have a bad day, since it provides such good blog fodder for you.
Comment by mtpolitics — March 17, 2004 @ 5:33 pm
Craig,
In that case, you should hope that I have to go to the New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles to strighten out a state-made mess. No one ever has a good day there. Then again, Governor McGreevey (don’t get me started) decided what the place needed was a new name. Henceforth, it will be known as the “New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.”
Very clever, I’d say.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — March 17, 2004 @ 8:10 pm
Hi, I work at one the the large chain pharmacies, and yes they can be pain in the ass with all their “rules”. But, you must realize that they almost have to act the way they do because of strick guidelines set forth by the government. Do not get me wrong, they do have some staff that do not have the slightest bit of common sense. Think about it, in order to accepted to any almost any pharmacy school in the nation, you need to have a GPA of 3.8 or higher from your pre-req classes. Not to mention, loads of chemisty and physics classes to be taken. People that can make those kinds of grades in those kinds of classes more than likely can not relate to a loved one much less an angry/sick, customer/patient. But, please do not think we are all idiots. I agree on most of these complaints, but it is TOUGH to work under the conditions that we do. Most of us do realize that the ONLY reason we are there is because of our customers. Has anyone heard of the new HIPPA laws? Next time you have to sign for a copy of privacy practices, again, take time to read it. It is not all our fault. Thanks.
Comment by nita — April 10, 2004 @ 12:41 am
Ah, yes…Rite Aid. The only store/pharmacy that I have walked into and had said ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘have a good day’ by members of their team. That means a lot to me, as well as others I am sure. Do I expect them to be any more perfect than any other business? NOPE. My local grocery store overcharges people ALL THE TIME…heck, even my phone bill is wrong sometimes. Wanna know why? Because unlike a lot of other businesses, they’re run by HUMAN beings. I’ve never met a PERFECT human being, have you? Perhaps you are one? Look in the mirror again. Maybe the people that want to speak so poorly of people and their places of employment should take a field trip and work there for a day…it’s not always as it seems.
Yup, with me, it’s personal.
Comment by terri — December 27, 2004 @ 11:04 am
Well . . .first of all if it weren’t for ignorant people like yourself, then our job wouldn’t be as satisfying as it is. You are the type of person we cringe upon seeing walk up to the counter. Someone like you has no idea what goes into filling a prescription and you take for granted what we do for you that your doctor neglects to do. Our liability for your health and safety goes unappreciated because you are too lazy or too dense to retrieve your prescription where you neglected to prevent it from being called to in the first place. Do you get that annoyed and irate when you are waiting an hour for a table at a restaurant or are you that lazy you don’t even bother driving to a restaurant? Take a step back and really think if being a pharmacist is really that simple, why do they have to go to school for 6 years, get paid really well, and there is a shortage? My explanation for the shortage . . . people like you that make our job so miserable.
Comment by kris — January 13, 2005 @ 10:13 pm
Kris,
If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it. Perhaps you would have handled the situation much better, although your personal attacks here suggest otherwise.
As for my being stupid, lazy and lacking understanding of what pharmacists do, you should know that I have a Master’s Degree in Psychobiology and that I spent eleven years doing psychopharmacology research at major pharmaceutical company. That was before I got a law degree, and began counseling pharmaceutical and medical diagnostic companies.
Have a nice day.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — January 14, 2005 @ 11:30 am
Dear Mr Sarcastic
I am a pharmacist and just spent 150,000 dollars
on a divorce due to greedy, imcompetent,
over charging lawyers and a court system that is
run by them
So please no comments on pharmacists….
with all your degrees it sounds as if you are
hiding behind a wall of academic bs
Comment by carolyn — January 26, 2005 @ 10:22 pm
With a charming person like you as a client, I am sure your lawyer earned every penny.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — January 26, 2005 @ 10:26 pm
I would like to clarify a few things –
1. The doctors office called the prescription to the wrong store – as educated as pharmacists are… we are NOT mind readers. We have no way of knowing the doctor called it into the wrong store.
2. Retail chains have procedures for filling prescriptions because some fill upwards of 600 prescriptions a day with few staff. That would be why you had to drop off a prescription at the drop off window – hence the labeling. It may only be 15 paces as you mentioned but when 10 patients are all at the same counter at once – highly unproductive.
3. There is also this regulation called HIPAA. Most professionals are aware of this – we cant have every joe standing in close proximity to each other while counseling a patient because it violates their privacy as a patient – again another reason for seperate windows.
4. people are not perfect – if you dont like the service you get – try another pharmacy.
5. dont judge people because they are young, old, black, white, female or male – anyone is capable of doing a job well or doing a job poorly. not just young people.
thanks for reading my opinion
Comment by Jen — May 18, 2005 @ 4:59 am
Jen,
You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — May 18, 2005 @ 6:19 am
It seems as though you might have left out quite a bit of the story here, maybe even exaggerated. There is a lot that goes on in a pharmacy that you will probably never understand and obviously you are accustomed to living a life where you expect others to cater to your needs most of the time. Just as one of the other comments mentioned above, businesses are run by HUMAN BEINGS, things are not perfect and we try our best to satisfy the customer, but the rule that the “customer is always right” simply does not make sense. Sure, you are the customer and we are here to provide you with a service. However, that does not give you the right to treat us with disrespect and refer to us as “blue-smocked schmucks” and “dipshits” just because things didn’t go your way. Sure, you have to “deal” with the inconvenience of actually WAITING for your prescription, or walking 15 paces (good GOD!) to drop off your prescription. But on the flipside, we have to deal with the constant disrespect thrown our way by customers like yourself to expect instant service and verbally abuse/berate you when you don’t give them what they want, ASAP. Customers expect quality one-on-one service with a personal touch, yet they want their meds “RIGHT AWAY” and as CONVENIENTLY as possible (hence the increasing number of DRIVE THRU pharmacies), like fast food. When we are forced to do 500+ Rxs a day, this can be a rather impossible feat.
Sounds like what happened was YOUR DOCTOR screwed up, and you didn’t know who else to direct your anger at because OH MY, you had to drive all of FIVE minutes to go to the other Rite Aid to pick up your prescription. Have you worked at a RETAIL pharmacy before? Obviously not. You’ve got all those degrees, but they don’t mean anything unless you’ve been on the other side of the counter. You can’t expect people to treat you with respect if you don’t respect them. And, age is not directly proportional to the respect you deserve. You shouldn’t assume that just because someone appears to be young (who knows, she/he could actually be a lot older than you think!), they are incompetent.
Comment by Sandra — June 29, 2005 @ 12:36 am
Sandra,
Rough day at the store? Perhaps you should do yourself, your employer and your employer’s customers a favor and consider doing something else for a living.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — June 29, 2005 @ 1:42 am
I’ve got you beat, Jim! Lookie what I went through with Rite-Aid just last night! (Mine has teenie-bopper pharmacy techs, too. But they’re rude.)
I posted this in my Management & Business class forum. (I’m a 49 year old, non-traditional returning college student.)
Forum: Q & A
Date: 07-10-2005 14:14
Subject How would YOU have handled this????
I would love opinions on this from any and all class members and Mr. Snow.
True story that happened to me just last evening.
I go to my local Rite-Aid pharmacy to pick up a refill Rx. Our family has been going there for years, and we are in the store picking up Rx’s for some member of our large family AT LEAST once a week. So we are on a first name basis with these people.
I’m three quarters of the way through the completion of writing a new business account “starter” check from a new bank my company has began using. (Comerica) I’ve always used either my business debit card or business checking account since we itemize.
At this point, the young lady tells me “We don’t accept starter checks. New corporate policy”. Two things IMMEDIATELY run through my mind: 1) She has now branded me as a CRIMINAL…no longer as a customer, because she has now insinuated that I’m writing a STOLEN check. 2) You and I both know that these checks don’t go through “corporate” headquarters. They will go to the bank down the street that every business uses to avoid robbery. And they will clear just like any other check. I look around and see no signs indicating that they do not accept starter checks. (Which by the way, carry THE EXACT SAME account number and routing number of the new checks that will be used in the future.)
I tell the young lady to please hold the starter check then, and I will be happy to replace it with a “regular” check after they arrive in my mailbox on Monday. I give her the now completed check, take the Rx….and leave.
At this point, she gets on the PA to announce to “Judy” (the manager) to block the front door. As I try to walk around this big, burly woman….I am leveled with a forearm that Bret Favre of the Packers would give her a high five for! She then twists my arm in order to remove the Rx.
I yell; “What in the hell do you think you’re doing????” She said I am not leaving the store with “stolen” merchandise!. She then threatens me with calling 911. I INVITE her to do so, since she now has assaulted me!
Once 911 is called, Rite Aid gives some lame story to the operator about “shoplifting”. I then grab the phone and give my side, in which I tell the operator that legal, payment IN FULL was given to the pharmacy. I was then asked if I wanted to request an officer. I said no, the cops have more important things to do. She asked me if I had another method I could pay them with. I said to resolve this madness, I will use my Mastercard.
And yes, I hate to admit it, but this woman did do a number on me injury-wise. I had to visit the urgent care facility last evening.
I already know how I would have handled this as a manager. But I would like any and all opinions on how YOU would have handled this. Also…please be honest! If you think I was the bad guy…thief….thug….please tell me!
Thanks ya’ll!
Mr. Bill
Comment by Mr. Bill — July 10, 2005 @ 5:51 pm