Giving Them A Hard Pill To Swallow
BAD BEHAVIOR, HOUSTON, PHARMACY, TEXAS, USA | RIGHT | DECEMBER 8, 2018
(I work at a retail pharmacy. I get a call from a patient.)
Customer: “I just came by the drive-thru, and you f****** idiots screwed up my prescription. This is completely wrong!“
(I apologize profusely and confirm the medication she was supposed to pick up.)
Me: “You certainly did pick up the correct medication for yourself. What exactly was wrong with it?”
Customer: “Last time I got ninety pills, and this time I only got thirty! What kind of business are you running here?!”
Me: “I’m sorry, that is a bit peculiar. Let me see why that was done.”
(I look up her prescription, which is a quantity of thirty with three refills.)
Me: “I see your doctor only prescribed a total of a hundred and twenty pills. On your preferences, you request ninety-day supplies. We did indeed fill it for ninety days previously, meaning only thirty were remaining on your prescription, which is what you received today. After this, you will need a new prescription from your doctor in order to get a ninety-day supply. I’m sorry for the confusion.”
Customer: “No f****** way. You guys f****** shorted me. I’m going over soon, and you guys had better give me my d*** pills. I know you offer that service, since y’all are f****** useless.”
Me: “Ma’am, we did not short you. You were meant to get thirty pills. You don’t have enough pills on your prescription to fill for ninety. I can send a refill request fax to your doctor, and perhaps she can approve for more. If it’s within seven days, we can reimburse you and get you ninety days when it’s approved.”
Customer: *scoffs* “Seriously?! What the f*** am I supposed to do without my medication?! I need this stuff to live. Just give me my f****** pills.”
(I am going around in circles, so I cut her off.)
Me: “No. I’m sorry, I cannot invent a new prescription and give you pills you do not have. You have no refills. Zero. You have thirty days’ worth you just picked up, and thirty entire days to get more. I can get you my pharmacy manager if you want a second opinion.”
(I put her on hold before she could protest or swear at me anymore, and the pharmacist who had been listening to her in disbelief picked up the call. The customer hung up, and we thankfully haven’t heard from her since.)
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