I posted this earlier in the day, but it disappeared. Hope I’m not double-threading.
Anyhoo, screw Rite-Aid pharmacy. I take a prescription drug for insomnia and, when I tried to refill it today was told that it was a day too early and my insurance wouldn’t cover it. “Fine,” I said, “then sell me one pill for tonight.” Nice Pharmacy Guy was ready to do so when Pharmacy Ass Guy (PAG) stomped over and proceeded to talk to me as if I were a drug-seeking crackhead who had personally insulted him by asking for drugs. I told him that I had probably dropped a pill down the sink accidentally, as they are very tiny; he replied that it wasn’t his problem and refused to call my doctor to get permission to sell me ONE stinkin’ pill.
So I had to drive back to work, call my doctor for a refill, then take another trip back to Rite-Aid and wait in their scabrous, germ-ridden waiting area while PAG took 45 minutes to get me the ONE pill my doctor had called in immediately after talking to me. During my wait I heard the Ass dressing down two other customers in the same manner he had me and refusing to call their doctors. To one elderly woman he actually said “it’s simply not my problem and I don’t have time to call your doctor.”
I’m sure pharmacists need to be on the alert for drug-seekers, but this man brings a whole new meaning to Rite-Aid’s stupid slogan “With us it’s personal” . . . yup, personally insulting.
Maybe its just me, but I would start with an email to these people detailing the entire circumstance of what happened with you and with what you observed including all the “who”, “what”, “where”, and “when”, citing their mission statement , and asking “why?”
Thanks for the direct link, I’m going to send a complaint as soon as I manage to move my business to CVS. I don’t want to deal with repercussions from a nasty guy who handles my prescription (and yells at grandmas who need their arthritis drugs.)
You had to drive to your work to call your doctor? Did you not have a cell phone or did you not know the doctor’s number? Because the pharmacy undoubtedly had access to both, had you asked nicely.
Call 1-800-RITE-AID and complain. As a former Rite Aid employee, I can tell you that phone complaints are sent directly to the store manager as well as the district manager.
I would asked to see the store manager and whoever this asshole reports to. (And then invited him to step outside with me)
You weren’t trying to finagle a prescription. Your refill was valid and legal. It’s just that a 3rd party wouldn’t PAY for it. He’s got no right to deny it to you if you are willing to pay for it.
Tell the store manager, his supervisor and the district manager that this asshole’s behavior has cost them at least ONE customer.
Take your next prescription to Walgreens. They’ve always been cool with me. Or you can go to Savon/CVS or Longs or any local independent pharmacy that isn’t staffed by morons.
What spooje said.
On your sleep issue:
Have you looked into new agey-hippie remedies? If not, and I have no experience with it other than a friend has used one of these with great success: Light therapy.
I didn’t have my cell phone, nor did this store have a pay phone; it’s why I asked rude guy to make the call for me.
I guess I need to stress that I was incredibly nice throughout this transaction. I did not abuse pharmacy guy, but was insistently polite even when he implied that I was a drug abuser.
I’ve encountered this situation a couple of times in the past, and as the medication was cheap I just paid for it out-of-pocket and was given no grief about it. I understand that attempting to refill early (especially if it’s done chronically, or extremely early) is a red flag for pharmacists when it’s a controlled substance, and that “I dropped it down the sink” is the “dog ate my homework” excuse of the pharmaceutical world, but to outright refuse to sell a single pill is just spiteful assholery.
I’m mildly curious exactly how the pharmacist managed to speak to the OP “as if [she] were a drug-seeking crackhead who had personally insulted him by asking for drugs,” but did so “politely.”
I don’t know if this particular sleep med is a controlled substance, but if so, I’m not sure you can even get one pill by paying out-of-pocket. Sometimes there’s a difference between the insurance rules (ex. you can pick it up 7 days early) and the rules for controlled substances, which are usually more strict than insurance.
I have it on good authority that they can be just as bad if not worse. A friend who can barely function without ritalin (or something similar) would get prescriptions filled, but would be shorted on the prescription. They simply wouldn’t have enough pills to give her. But they’d charge her for the full prescription, and wouldn’t fill the remainder for another 30 days.
They shouldn’t be doing that, and she should have complained. When I’ve had situations like that at Walgreens or other pharmacies, they’ve always given me an estimate of when they would have the remaining pills available for me.