Drive Thru II

With the way cell phone use in the pharmacy is now, it's only going to get worse unless something is done about it. Lately I've refused to assist anyone who walks up to the counter yapping away on their cell. Those who drive up in the drive-thru on their cell usually get a VERY loud 'HOW CAN I HELP YOU!' which normally results in them either dropping their phones or rolling their eyes and then hanging up.

The other day Yapper comes up to the pharmacy yapping away on her cell phone about what she did over the weekend. I would normally just ignore her until she gets off but it was busy and I didn't have time to just hang around the area til she got off so I quickly asked her if she was picking up or dropping off..

Yapper: *puts up finger* 'OMG I knowwww he is sooooo cuuuutttteeee! who did he go weoisjfhiowekdg'

Me: *irritated enough* (in a louder tone) Picking up or dropping off?

Yapper: *pauses her conversation and rolls her eyes* 'Ugh, ANYWAYS, I'm at the pharmacy and they're being really rude right now.. uh huh....yea i know right??

Oh I'm so sorry for interrupting your conversation you dumb bitch. I should have known better. I should have stood back and smile at you politely and patiently until it is convenient for YOU to hang up the phone. I should have then rushed over to you and tell you that your wait time is immediately because I know how important and precious your time is and it does not need to be wasted any minute longer in this pharmacy.

She comes back..through the drive-thru.

NO, the trilyte jug will NOT fit in the tube. You have to come in.

She comes back again...through the first lane

NO, the trilyte will NOT fit in the thing either. AGAIN, you have to come in... NO, I will NOT empty it out in a smaller container so your lazy ass doesn't have to walk in. NO, I will NOT bring it out to you.. I'm only going to say it once more...YOU HAVE TO COME IN

She comes IN finally yapping this time to the manager as he walks her back to the pharmacy and asks what the problem is... I went ahead and let her have the first chance to explain her side.

'What's the point of the drive-thru if nothing fits in the tiny tube anyway!! *points finger at me* She refused to help me at all! She won't put it in a smaller container for me. She's been nothing but rude to me ever since I walked into this pharmacy! This is terrible customer service! I want your corporate number!'

*manager looks puzzled.. he looks at me and then at her and shruggs* 'Well, it looks like this medication is packaged in the giant jug for a reason, ma'am. She can't just pour it out and risk the chance of you taking the medicine wrong because you refused to get out of your car.'

'OMG! This is unacceptable! She could have at least brung it to me. The drive-thru is discriminant - it's not fair!'

It got to the point where her yelling and hollering was very distracting to others and finally the manager said he'd call the cops if she don't leave. =D

***Why do all my issues come from the freaking drivethru??? I can go on for hours***

DRIVE THRU

I hate how people dash into our drive-thru and say something along the lines of 'I need some Tylenol and my dog is sick and he's in the car so I can't go get it so you gotta get it for me..the one that's on sale..' At first I'd politely inform the lazy idiot that the pharmacy drive-thru is for pick up/drop off prescriptions only and I can NOT go out into the store to hunt for her Tylenol - the one that's in the salespaper - because her dog is the car. Oh - and I hate how most of the time they respond with 'Well, my DOG is in the CAR... I cant LEAVE him in here! What am I supposed to do?!' Oh I'd like to tell you what I would do...

Anyway today was a pretty good day - minimal issues. Flu season is over so I don't get too many problems. Summer's not quite here yet so I don't have last minute vacation overriders. Well I do have a story I can share:

This lady comes in with a prescription from a doctor from the ER. First of all, it got rejected because of a refill too soon. She had last picked it up 2 days ago at another pharmacy in the same chain. She won't listen to what I'm saying but yet keeps repeating herself. 'It has to be done NOW. I need it ASAP. This is extremely urgent. You MUST take care of it right away. Call the doctor or whatever' I stood there with a are-you-kidding-me look. This URGENT prescription was dated last month. I have a stack of about 50 scripts to type in - half of which are all waiting and you want me to put it all aside so you can get your prescription which is covered by the state AND you won't pay a dime of it no matter how urgent because it's supposed to be covered by the state and you can't afford it but you drive a Cadillac Crossover and wear designer bags and jewelry. I told her I'll get on it as soon as I finish working on the prescriptions that were before her and she walks off satisfied......only to walk back 3 minutes later 'Is it ready? What did the doctor say? Is it done?' You dumb idiot, I havent even got the chance to touch the computer after you left because a line formed as you were telling me how URGENT your prescription is and I just took care of them. Second of all, do you know how hard it is to get a hold of the doctor from an ER?? Most of them are only there for that one time and you basically have to track them down!

Irresponsible!

Idiot comes in wanting her prescription for her Allegra.. Checked the computer - nothing ready. No biggie - I pull up her profile and see that it has no refills, plus it hadn't been filled for a few months now, plus it's not even entered as a pending doctor's authorization prescription so it was not even put in to be refilled. 'did you call in a refill ma'am?' Her response? 'You mean you havent contacted the doctor?!' I've never seen someone's face turn so red so fast. She called ME irresponsible because I should have known that she OBVIOUSLY wanted me to contact the doctor and was shocked that I didn't do so because I should have known that she was in need of her allegra beforehand and sent a request so it'll be ready when she came in.

Yes, she really did think it would be ready.
No, she did NOT even call it in
Yes, she filed a complaint on me for being irresponsible and unable to keep up with patients and their meds.

Are you f-ing serious?!?! How the H would I know what you need, when you need it when you don't open your f-ing mouth and let me know?! I don't question the reason why you take what you take. I have no earthly clue as to what you want from me

Transfers..Not that simple!

Yesterday, an older couple dropped off a prescription to be filled at my pharmacy. I registered them and gave an estimated pickup time of 20 minutes and they proceeded to shop. They came back in 20 minutes and were shocked to find their prescriptions ready on time. Then came one of the most dreaded question, "I want to transfer all my prescriptions over from WalMart. Can you put that in?"

*Blank stare from me*

That pretty much means the guy doesn't know about the process of transfers. I explained how the pharmacist would have to call the other pharmacist at the other pharmacy to get the prescription transferred from WalMart over to us.

" Well, what if sometimes WalMart is closer? What if I want to pick it up from WalMart next month and then from you guys the following? I mean, it depends on which pharmacy is closer at the time anyway"

I explained how ONE pharmacy is able to hold the prescription and it can't be split up among two completely different pharmacies. He got all huffy with me and goes "FINE, how are your prices here?! How much are they??"

PROBLEM: You didn't tell me the name of the prescription, whether or not you have insurance, quantity, frequency, etc..

It gets worse...

"Oh, I don't have the pharmacy's number.. I dont remember the name of the prescriptions - there's a whole bunch.. I can tell you what they're for though! I have a blood pressure one that's 'stronger' than Norvasc which I use to take. Umm... a cholesterol one that Dr....hmm...Dr.....Nguyen! Yea! Dr. Nguyen prescribed me. One for testosterone........(this goes on) And I have insurance.. But one time I filled at Target before and my copay was different so how much is it here? I dont have the card either...they changed..If it's more, than I'll stay at WalMart"

*#&^$&*#*#$*& you freakin idiot! You mean to tell me that you want me to jot down these medications that you don't know the name of to be transferred from a pharmacy that you don't the telephone number of to be billed under the insurance of the card you don't have."

Get this...He wanted to wait!!! 'It shouldnt take long should it? You just need to call?'

At this point I had it...ONE pharmacist is on duty and she's counseling a patient at the consultation window (there were 2 people behind her in line to be counseled) , the phone kept ringing and it's a nurse calling in a prescription but demanded to talk to the pharmacist no matter how long it would take, and there's a patient standing at the pickup window refusing to move all while complaining how unproductive our pharmacy is because she is certain a dr called in a prescription for her daughter and bet its on the voicemail and keeps saying 'GEEZ, what the HELL is taking so long?! If your pharmacist keeps talking to those people, she'll never get to it! How hard is it to check the freakin voicemail?! Isn't there a law that states how often you're required to check it????'

After taking care of everything else and getting the script off the voicemail, I scan the prescription to be typed and she goes 'OMG this is taking tooo long - is it dont yet?!?!' I tell her that we just got it off the voicemail and I'm inputting it into the computer so if she would like to have a seat, I can rush it for her... Her response? 'NO WAY, if I do, you'll start helping other people and mines will take longer. Noooooooowayyy'

She's tapping her fingers on the counter and keeps sighing and glancing at her watch and then exclaims 'Well, if you were just waiting for the pharmacist to check the voicemail first - why didn't yet get it ready while she was checking it??? That would've been smart and quicker.



Why are people so impatient these days??? It ticks me off!!

Oh yea, some lady dropped off a prescription in drive-thru and when asked to return in 30 minutes, she thought it was ABSURD to have to comeback instead of waiting for it.

OTC locked up

We have certain OTC medicines out on the aisle that are locked up in plastic cases. So everytime someone wants something out of there, they always walk back to the pharmacy and say something like 'I need you to unlock the Excedrin for me' Sometimes it would be during the busiest times of the day (oh yea, did I mention that we're short-staffed??) when I have 4 people at the in-window, 6 at the out-window, and 4 cars (that I could see) in drive-thru. The phones are ringing non-stop and I feel like I am going to seriously punch the next person that asks me 'Why does it take 30 minutes? It's a spray! You don't have to count that. ' This is the exact moment someone would stick their head in and demand you to drop everything and go unlock the case for them. This is so inconvenient - it's never just 'ok i'll unlock it - ok here you go - bye' They always stand there and scratch their head and think out loud, 'hmmm... i dont know what to get. what's the difference?' *SIGH* TABLETS, GELCAPS, CAPLETS, EZ CAPS - who cares! When they finally decide on whatever form of pill they want, it's always followed by 'What's the difference between these three?? They all say tablets!' *BIGGER SIGH* 25CT, 50CT, or 100CT - hurry it up! 'Well the 100ct seems like the better deal' (I quickly grab the 100ct but then get interrupted) 'Oh - I doubt I'll need that many, give me the 25ct'
#*($^*&#^$*&^*&$^@#*

Recently they put up huge signs and a BIG RED BUTTON to press for assistance in unlocking those dreadful cases. This way, the SHORT-STAFFED PHARMACY will be able to actually work with less interruptions. No one. Nope, NO ONE sees it. Just like how they don't see the BIG RED SIGN that reads 'WINDOW CLOSED. NEXT WINDOW PLEASE. They continuously stick their head in while you're counting out a C-II and expect you to drop whatever you're doing to rush out there and unlock it. I just want to let the gate drop on their heads sometimes...

Rants

So a few months ago, there was a recall on certain childrens cold medicines. The reason being parents were overdosing their young children with these over-the-counter meds. Why is it that people still come up to me and complain about how their children are sick and its not fair that these meds were recalled? I can't even count how many times a day someone comes up to me and says something like 'My 5 month old daughter has a runny nose and I think she's sick, can I give her ******' Oh - and it doesn't matter that it says 'Children 2 and under-consult doctor' because I'll just give her a little bit and if something happens to her, I'm gonna blame the pharmacy.
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I'm taking a new approach to people who come in on their cell phones chatting away and expect you to help them. I will greet them in the loudest voice possible and constantly interrupt them until I'm through. ...'HI!! HOW MAY I HELP YOUUUUU????' I make them verify all their info. This was day one of the new approach. So far I've gotten a few annoyed angry looks and about 2-3 that actually hung up. =)

(*#^%*&$^%&$

Lady drops off prescriptions for her husband and son. First time here. Says she has no insurance and will pay cash for it. Prescription is for Allegra, Norvasc, and Prevacid. (still high even if generic) We fill it. She comes back. We tell her the total and she starts yelling. Says that the generics are supposed to be $10 each. Again I remind her that there is no such copay in her case since there is no insurance and she argues with me that she's always gotten it at that price at her other pharmacy and we need to price match - in fact, she'll bring in her OLD receipt that shows that she got it for $10. (yeah...back when she had insurance) I tell her NO. She then says fine - since we can't come to an agreement about this, how about she pays $50 total and get all her meds. Hmm... tempting but no. She then says ok - how about $75. This lady was trying to negotiate the price!! I don't make them, nor do I have any authority to change them. I offered to partial the prescription and pro-rate the price but no - she insists on getting all her meds for insurance copay price. All of a sudden, she freaks out and starts yelling about how she can't stand pharmacies because we're all just here for the money and don't care about whether or not our patients die if they don't get their meds. She goes on to say that we all try to play God and decide who lives and who dies. Come on, lady - seriously???